The Last Hyuuga
by Xiao Bi
Summary: "Come with me," the man said, his voice quiet and dignified, "We have much to talk about." When he turned, Sakura's breath caught. His eyes were like polished silver: mercurial and piercing. She knew those eyes. They were the eyes of a Hyuuga. [ NejiSaku, AU, Character Deaths ] [ Rated M for adult language, themes and suggestions. ]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"It's almost time."

Sasuke Uchiha remained kneeling, eyes fixed steadfastly on the unadorned ground before him. The Hokage had a volatile temper on the best of days; the cracks in the walls were a testament to that. Even the rough stone floor before him was stained with dried blood, remnants of the last guest who had answered incorrectly, or perhaps just too slowly. To him, though, that was rapidly becoming irrelevant. If the plan was almost complete, that meant his time was running out.

_Is it worth trying to run?_ he wondered.

"You may leave," the Hokage said a moment later, in a tone that suggested irritation at Sasuke's continued presence. As though speaking to a servant, he added without so much as a glance, "Get your affairs in order. I'll come for you when everything is ready."

Sasuke allowed himself a bitter smile._ How gracious._

"Yes, Lord Hokage," he said quietly. Not daring to look up, he turned and left the room, closing the door silently behind him.

Ino Yamanaka was waiting for him outside, fingers fidgeting nervously with her ponytail.

"Is everything okay?" the blonde asked softly, so as not to incur the Hokage's wrath. Not that it mattered how low her voice was; the man's senses were unparalleled in their acuity. Still, the door remained closed and intact, and she allowed herself an internal sigh of relief.

"Fine," Sasuke answered curtly, already moving away from the office, anxious to get home. Ino followed in his wake, a mere step behind the brooding shinobi. The few stragglers in the halls hurried to make a path for him. Everyone in Konoha knew of his connection to the Hokage, and none dared to challenge him. He plowed through the main exit, not bothering to hold it open for his follower. With some annoyance, he noted that she hadn't taken the hint as her lithe form slipped through, tailing him without drawing attention. He whipped around to face her.

"Stop following me," he snapped. Ino's hands clasped together instinctively before her chest at the sharp rebuke.

"I-I just thought you could use the company since... since... you know," she trailed off, averting her cerulean gaze.

"Since I'm going to be a corpse soon?" Sasuke finished for her brusquely. Ino said nothing.

_Why not? She's enough for a bit of fun before I decide what to do._ He took a moment to drink in her shapely figure, his Sharingan reading the subtleties of her posture that spoke volumes of her intentions. Sasuke grunted and resumed his course.

"Come, then," he said. Ino hurried to catch up. Her pliancy gave him a twisted sort of satisfaction. She wanted him, and he knew it.

Occupied as he was with schemes of escape and resulting eventualities, the walk back to his accommodations went by quickly. No one tried to stop him or initiate conversation. Perhaps they sensed his darker-than-usual mood, or perhaps they were just carrying on with life as usual. Sasuke was not the most gregarious occupant of Konoha, to say the least.

He didn't bother locking his door as he passed through the entryway. The Uchiha complex was still as deserted as ever, a jarring contrast from the afternoon hustle and bustle of the rest of the village, and it was unlikely that anyone would choose today to visit him, when no one ever had done so before. Ino closed the door behind her, meekly stepping into his house for the first time. It was spartan, at best, sporting only the essentials. The walls were blue and unadorned and the shutters perpetually shut, giving the interior a constant oeuvre of moody darkness. She looked nervously at the lone couch in his bare living room, worrying at her lip.

"I'm going to shower," he announced, relishing her discomfort, "Wait here." As an afterthought, he added, "Make yourself comfortable." He pushed the bathroom door shut._ Might as well keep up appearances,_ he thought,_ Won't hurt to keep her waiting._

The shower head roared to life, filling the room with steam before he was finished undressing._ One of the perks of living in an abandoned area,_ he mused,_ No one else using the hot water. _His eyes caught a glimpse of his bare form in the mirror, and he paused to lean closer to it, staring deep into his own onyx eyes before appraising his body. Not a single scar showed on his pale skin; proof of his hard-earned skill._ Am I really going to let myself die for someone else's cause?_

There was a noise outside his door. He smirked.

"Couldn't wait?" he asked sardonically, not bothering to cover himself, "Well, come in, then."

There was no answer. He rolled his eyes._ Is she playing coy now, or is she suddenly getting cold feet? Well, it doesn't make a difference. We both know what's going to happen._ He reached for the doorknob.

The door exploded in a shower of wooden shards as something smashed into his chest hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. His back hit the glass walls of his shower, shattering it and drawing blood from numerous lacerations before slamming hard into the tiled wall. He heard cracks – was that the wall or his ribs? – and struggled to get his bearings through the water and mist.

His assailant loomed out of the fog, masked and cloaked in black. Sasuke tried to move, but he was pinned against the wall by an unyielding hand of iron. Basic instinct kicked in and he aimed a strike at the attacker's face. He found himself unable to even make a fist, paralyzed by some unseen force.

_An illusion? You're a fool to try that on an Uchiha._ He reached inward for the activation of his clan's heirloom, the prized eyes that could break any shinobi technique.

Nothing.

The power stayed horrifyingly out of his reach, nullified by the same puissance that held him fast.

"What are you?" he rasped, "What have you done to me?"

"I have no breath to waste on a dead man," a cold voice answered him, robotic through the porcelain of the mask. The masked figure reached forward, sinking gloved fingers into the rims of Sasuke's orbitals.

"W-Wait!" Sasuke screamed. His words fell on deaf ears.

The water ran red with his blood.

o

Sakura Haruno stepped gingerly over Ino's corpse, grimacing as she saw the unnatural angle her neck had been bent at. They had been friends once, before differing ambitions had driven a wedge between the two. Or perhaps it was because their ambitions were too similar._ Well, no matter._ One of them was dead and, with her, any chance of reconciliation. In any case, the Hokage was waiting in the next room, and he was neither a man who liked to be kept waiting, nor one to be concerned about long-severed bonds of friendship. She made her way through what was left of the bathroom door.

_Sasuke._

The smell of blood was nothing new to her, nor was the sight of death. Hell, even the hollow eye sockets that gaped at her had long since become mundane for her; her medical training had been nothing if not complete. But this was different. This was Sasuke's body, the body of the man she had longed for for so long. Even naked and bloody, he looked agelessly beautiful.

She was the one who was supposed to take his eyes. A morbid and perhaps twisted way to get close to someone, but she had always thought fortune smiled upon her when she was found to fit the profile and requisites to become Konoha's only medic. In some corner of her mind, she had hoped that he would finally notice her as she took a position near him as one of the few considered in the Hokage's inner circle. He resented her, though, hated her for the inevitable end that she came to represent. The unfairness of it all had cost her more than one night of sleep, and now he, too, was dead. Another thread cut.

"You try my patience with your sentimentality," came the quiet words of the Hokage.

_Madara Uchiha._

The man looked surreal standing in the small bathroom, filling it with his voluminous raven hair and red, lacquered armor. Sakura wiped her expression clean of the tiny frown that she had previously worn, now acutely aware of his crimson eyes boring into her. She knew why she was here; with Sasuke dead, there was only one use for a medic, and it was time to get to work.

She knelt, drawing her fuchsia tresses back into a utilitarian ponytail, to examine the body. It was no longer Sasuke she was looking at, just another subject. His eyes had been removed, that much was clear. From the bruising around them, it seemed that that particular operation had been carried out when he was alive. Clearly, whoever had done this had wanted to preserve their condition. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the skull, causing massive brain damage. From the looks of the cracks in the wall and the clumps of hair strewn about, this had been achieved when the killer had slammed Sasuke's head into the wall. It was fast, efficient and, most importantly, anonymous.

"Whoever did this caught him by surprise," she summarized, "He didn't get a chance to fight back at all. Most likely the work of an experienced assassin." These were all facts that Madara could have discerned himself, she knew. "The killer definitely has Sasuke's blood on him. Kiba will be able to track him."

"Take him, then," Madara said, breezing past her as she stood, "And whomever else you need to get those eyes back." He paused, blocking off the doorway. "I don't need to tell you how much less useful you've become to me with Sasuke's death. Fail me, and you will join him."

Like smoke dissipating through air, he vanished.

Sakura waited a heartbeat, then left the residence. Someone would be along soon enough to dispose of Sasuke's body. Perhaps later, there would be time for her to grieve. For now, she had to take care of the living.

Feedback is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I'll need Kiba," Sakura said, "As well as Lee." Madara arched an eyebrow imperiously at her request.

"Two close range specialists," he stated shortly, leaning forward to rest his palms on the massive oaken desk, close enough for Sakura to feel his hot breath on her face. The fact that she was still standing meant that he approved of her choice, but one did not simply ignore a question from Madara Uchiha, implied or not.

"Our assassin is fast and clearly skilled in hand-to-hand combat," she recited, her emerald eyes unblinking, "I don't want to take any chances. No matter how good he or she is, three against one should be enough."

Once upon a time, it would have been four against one, but Kiba's loyal companion had been injured on an extended mission. With no one adequately trained in medical care to properly dress the wound, it had festered, taking Akamaru's life.

"It _will_ be enough," Madara corrected, a smirk crossing his lips, "You see, Sakura? This is why we do not keep medics. The weak are culled off, and the strong survive. That is the natural order of things." He stood, turning his back to her to gaze out the window at his village. "Bring him back to me alive," he ordered, "The world will be reminded of what happens to those who cross me."

"That's not going to be possible," Sakura answered speculatively, "Maybe if I had a Hyuuga, bu–"

The breath was stolen from her as Madara caught her slim throat in one hand, forcing her gaze to meet his. She swallowed hard, her windpipe jumping against his grip, staring into the whirling Sharingan eyes that slowly turned to regard her; the same eyes that had exterminated the Hyuuga clan.

"I tire of your defiance," Madara said in a terrifyingly soft voice.

_Do not show weakness. Waver, and you will die._ She steeled herself and began again.

"The risk is too high," she said, quashing the tremor in her voice that threatened to surface, "Our first priority is the eyes." The silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but she dared not struggle against the Hokage's iron grasp.

"You tread a very dangerous line, medic," he said, then, after a long pause, "Very well." The pressure eased, and her vision swam as she tried to re-establish her breathing. "Go," he commanded.

Sakura took three quick steps to the window and vaulted out into the world.

Lee Rock would be easy to find; the man's training regime was like clockwork. From rooftop to rooftop, she soared, adjusting easily to the precarious shifting of the shingles beneath her boots. No one below paid her any mind, though she suspected it was more due to fear than apathy. The entire village knew of her ties with the Hokage, as well as her not-insignificant battle prowess. Combined, the two factors made her a pariah, an outcast in her own home. She didn't particularly mind. Life was easier without social entanglements. Easier, and safer.

She heard him long before she saw him, a steady _thwok thwok thwok_ coming from the remains of the Hyuuga complex. He was the only one that ventured into those grounds. The massacre was too complete, too bloody and too recent in the minds of the populace for anyone else to willingly set foot there. Konoha's most powerful clans had fallen in Sakura's time, and one person had risen in their lieu; the same one who now held the title of Hokage.

Lee paused his strikes as the medic came into view, reaching for the towel he had left draped on one of the many training dummies. Ironically, they had come out of the purge most intact, when many of the buildings had been burned down or otherwise devastated. He wiped his upper body free of sweat and donned his shirt as Sakura touched down in front of him.

"Ms. Sakura," he acknowledged with a slightly stiff bow, trying to keep his smile capped at a polite level. Seeing the medic always elicited a feeling of inexplicable serenity in him, and he was consequently one of the only people in Konoha with amicable relations with her. Despite the stigma associated with her, she was generally agreed upon to be quite attractive, though somewhat supercilious, and it didn't hurt that he was one of the few people who could match her in combat. The two had never had a chance to spar, but he was sure that it would at least be a memorable one.

"Lee," she greeted back. Her voice, bright with a hint of roughness, sent shivers down his spine. "There's a mission," she said briefly, "How soon can you be ready?"

"Right away, Ms. Sakura," he answered immediately. The aching in his muscles from several hours of continuous training had already begun to fall away at Sakura's appearance; her call to action swept away the last of it.

"I'll need Kiba, as well," she said.

"Ah," he nodded, then frowned, "But today is Akamaru's..."

"I know," she said with a wry smile, "You just let me deal with him."

o

Kiba Inuzuka trudged slowly through the dusty street. It was empty, now; the sun had already begun to glow orange and no one in their right mind wanted to be caught out anywhere near the curfew, least of all by him. Not today. One by one, the shops had closed, but there was only one that he was interested in.

The shadowy image of his reflection followed him from one darkened window to the next. He glanced at it. Above the two pairs of triangular marks he had painted on his cheeks rested haggard eyes. They looked old. Tired.

Something moved over his shoulder.

"The flower shop isn't open today, Kiba," Sakura said quietly, just loud enough for his keen ears to pick up, "Ino's dead."

"Guess I'll go elsewhere, then," he said. He knew Sakura wanted something; she wasn't the sort to coincide with people unless she did. His nose twitched._ Lee._ If the martial artist was here as well, then it could only mean a mission. A tracking mission, probably. He wasn't in the mood. Turning, he began to walk away.

"You know why I'm here," Sakura called out, "There's a mission."

"Fuck off, Sakura," he growled, "I need to pay my respects to Akamaru." Footsteps started toward him, then stopped._ Lee again._ There was a clear difference in the weight of his and Sakura's bodies.

A sudden rush of motion and Sakura was standing in front of him, blocking his way. Her eyes were hard. "There's a mission," she repeated in a low, threatening voice, "I won't repeat myself again."

"I will," he drawled, laconically. The sight of the medic infuriated him, mocked him for Akamaru's death. Where had she been when his best friend was dying?_ Probably spreading her legs for the Hokage._ "Fuck off, Sakura."

She reached back behind herself and withdrew her black leather gloves. He snorted.

"You think I'm scared of you?" She ignored him, sliding them on easily. "_Don't you fucking dare threaten me, you whore!_" Kiba snarled, dropping into a crouch. He felt his claws elongate and dig into the ground and his teeth ached in anticipation of ripping into the sweetness of her tanned flesh. "We'll see how Madara likes you after I ugly you up."

Roaring, Kiba leapt forward, his talons arching toward that stoic face. She swayed back and he caught only air. Undaunted, he swung again, this time aiming to gut her. Something exploded against the right side of his face and the ground slammed into his flank. He tasted blood: his own.

The animal in him was fully awake now, and he howled, drawing himself up on all fours and launching a flurry of biting and slashing at his prey. Somehow, she slipped through all of them, and he redoubled his efforts. Faster and faster, he pressed forward, catching a shred of cloth here and a whiff of hair there. A claw razored across her cheek, leaving behind a thin line. Blood welled up to fill the recess, and the smell of it drove him wild. Frothing at the mouth, he lunged.

He jolted to a stop, one hand arrested by the slender fingers of the medic. Relentlessly, blindly, he lashed out with the other, only to have that locked by her grip as well.

"Enough," she said softly. The cut on her face flashed green and evaporated, leaving nothing but smooth skin behind. He surged forward, fangs seeking her vulnerable throat.

Suddenly, his feet were off the ground, and the medic was between him and the earth. The steel bands around his wrists tightened and he smashed into the pavement. Bones fractured. Before his reeling mind could piece together what happened, he found himself airborne again. A wall of glass hit him in the back, and the world was a mess of spinning darkness and splintering wood.

_He's not going to get up from that._ Sakura slipped her gloves off and tucked them away neatly. She stepped over the frame of the destroyed display window and picked Kiba up from his daze by the collar. Shards of glass tinkled down from his limp body and he moaned.

"Akamaru is dead," she said, "I'm going to heal you, and unless you want to be delivering flowers in the other world, I suggest you put him out of mind until we are done."

Feedback is appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The forest soon darkened under the cover of night, and it was only by the dim illumination of the waning moon that they were able to see the faint outlines of the boughs underfoot. Kiba led the way, bounding from one branch to the next, following an unseen path of chemicals in the air, one known only to him. He stopped abruptly and shook out his shaggy mane, sending out a cloud of steam as his sweat evaporated in the brisk air.

"We're catching up, but the bastard's still at least an hour ahead," Kiba grunted, "Either way, we're not gonna catch up in this light." Sakura frowned._ Our assassin is traveling alone. How can we be catching up?_ She shook her head.

"We'll move by ground, then." A growl of irritation rumbled in Kiba's throat.

"We've been running for three fucking hou–"

"And we'll continue to do so, if that's what's necessary," Sakura snapped. They were rapidly coming up to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Frost, a veritable no man's land, controlled by a relatively weak village. The situation was becoming too unpredictable for her liking, and she had no intention of losing her objective. Without waiting to hear Kiba's response, she dropped from the trees to the ground, landing lightly despite the sixty-foot drop. Kiba grumbled angrily, but followed her lead nonetheless, resuming his position at the head.

"Why do you think he's slowing down, Ms. Sakura?" Lee asked, taking a few quick steps to catch up to her.

"I don't know," she said truthfully, shaking her head._ It's a trap_, her gut instinct told her,_ Our target knows that he or she is being followed._ Even so, the numbers were still on their side. "Keep an eye out. It's still three against one."

"Three against one," Lee mused to himself, "That doesn't seem very honorable, Ms. Sakura." A fleeting smile crossed Sakura's expression. Even with Konoha the way it was, Lee was always trying to do the right thing, the honorable thing. It was his "code," he'd proudly tell her. It always made her wonder if she had taken the easy way out.

Seventeen years ago, when Madara had mysteriously and explosively returned from the dead, she had witnessed his power. From a distance, she had watched him annihilate Konoha's strongest clan. Already in chaos, they stood no chance against his indomitable might. Her three-year-old eyes would not easily forget the black flames, nor the ghostly blue colossus he summoned to crush the Third and claim the title of Fifth and Last Hokage.

She had submitted to him, of course, as had anyone else who wanted to live. Her reward was the books which had long since been put to the torch, books that opened her eyes to the medical world. He had deemed her useful, and she found it pragmatic to stay that way, dedicating herself entirely to her studies. She stood by him loyally, watching as he toppled nations. Three of the Great Shinobi Nations were ravaged in just nine years, and the last in dire straits. Seven of the tailed beasts were already in his possession; when the Kumogakure fell, the last two would be in his grasp.

What would Lee say, she wondered, if he knew that she had been the instrument to extract those tailed beasts from their human hosts? What would he think of the person who had callously extinguished the lights from countless eyes for the sake of her master? Would he still favor her with that same, bright smile, or would his affections turn to disgust?

Lee walked beside Sakura quietly. She was thinking again, he knew, as she often was.

"Why do you stay in Konoha?" she asked suddenly. He blinked.

"It's my home," he answered simply.

"Some home," she said with a rueful smile. Such thoughts were treasonous within the walls of Konoha, but with the honest and open Lee, they sprang forth, as though unbidden.

"The path we walk is not always chosen by us, nor is it always easy, nor is it always the ideal. Oftentimes, there is no choice but to keep walking, carrying the things that life gives us," Lee replied with a small shrug, "But I do not need to tell you that, Ms. Sakura." She laughed, the sound a pleasant, melodic trill, despite the irony in her mirth.

"You're probably right," she admitted, "As usual." Lee smiled, pleased at the effect of his words.

"Ms. Saku–"

"Something's wrong," Kiba barked out in warning. It was the only one they got.

Like a thunderbolt, the assassin dropped from above, catching Kiba on both shoulders with the full weight of the prodigious descent. The tracker crumpled under the force of the assassin's knee strike. To his credit, he managed a backward swipe, but his hand was caught mid-swing. A twist and jerk stretched his arm taut, and the assassin's elbow came down like a guillotine. Kiba's arm snapped like a twig.

Kiba howled in agony. The assassin drew back a hand, stiffened like a blade, for the finishing blow. Fortunately for the stricken tracker, Lee was airborne, forcing the assassin to dive out of the way of a flying kick. He hit the ground in a wary stance, using his body as a shield for Sakura, who had already begun working on Kiba's arm. All he had to do was stall until she could stabilize the situation.

The assassin hurtled forward, launching a double palm thrust at the martial artist. Lee managed to block both hands, but realized the ploy too late as the assassin used the reflected momentum to spin around, dropping low to sweep at his ankles. His upper body still reeling, Lee had no choice but to throw himself into a hasty back flip over his teammates. The assassin ended the leg sweep with a solid kick against the ground to shoot forward, aiming a spear hand at the unprotected medic.

Lee caught the motion at the wrist. For a moment, the two squared off, vying for the upper hand with the medic and the crippled tracker between their straining bodies. Then, the assassin pulled. Lee stumbled forward, caught off-guard by the sudden reversal, his balance further compromised as he was forced to step over his charges.

That moment of instability cost him, as the assassin chopped hard against the inside of the martial artist's elbow. His arm buckled, and the assassin barged forward, pinning Lee's hand against his chest. The martial artist could only watch as the assassin twisted like a coiling spring and let loose with a devastating, full-bodied hammer fist to his torso.

Ribs caved and organs ruptured. Lee felt his right lung warm as it flooded with fluids, and he fell away, retching blood as Kiba rose. Again, the assassin was driven back, and again, Sakura hurried to heal the damage. She cursed under her breath; the injuries Lee sustained were far greater and would take longer to repair. The longer they were off-kilter, the worse the situation got for them. _Focus_, she reprimanded herself, pushing those thoughts out of mind and devoting all of her energy toward keeping Lee breathing.

Kiba approached warily this time, and the assassin circled him in kind._ The fucker knows how badly he trashed Lee,_ the tracker seethed, _And now he's biding his sweet time._

"Twenty seconds!" the medic called out over his shoulder. It was over in three.

A feint to the right from the assassin, and Kiba moved to intercept instinctively. The assassin became a blur, putting on a previously unseen speed. Kiba was caught between steps, unable to brace against anything as the assassin's fist harpooned through his feeble guard and smashed him in the face. He felt the glassy crunch of teeth against teeth through his jaw, tasted the chalky grit as they shattered. Dazed, he never saw the crescent kick that scythed up from below to connect against his chin.

His head snapped back with a sickening crack, and his mouth fell open in surprise. For an instant, he remained standing, frozen at the line between the living and the dead. Then, the moment passed, and he fell wordlessly to the earth. The assassin turned to Sakura, ivory mask glowing with menace in the moonlight.

She was not about to sit around and be executed. The medic stood, gloved hands blazing with blue fire. Without waiting for the assassin to initiate, she engaged, leading with a powerful right cross. The assassin's parry was blown away by the sheer strength of her attack, and she felt the jarring impact of knuckle against flesh and bone as her fist landed against the assassin's chest. There was an explosion of light, and the assassin went sprawling, hitting the forest floor hard. Before Sakura could capitalize, the assassin had already regained footing, apparently no worse for the wear. She kicked her leg up high, bringing it down to earth-shattering effect. Fissures raced out from the point of impact as the ground shook.

The assassin transitioned the beginnings of a stumble into a backward leap. There was a pause, and the assassin turned, disappearing into the night.

"Go after him! He's killed our tracker, if we lose him now, we'll never catch him!" Lee cried out, clutching at his sides as a spasm of pain ripped through him. Sakura hesitated. "I'll be fine, Ms. Sakura," he reassured, flashing her his most valiant attempt at a smile, "You've healed me from worse."

Sakura bowed her head slightly in apology and gave chase, speeding off into the unknown.

Feedback is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Trees hurtled by Sakura as she sprinted down the trail left by the assassin. The shapes all seemed to blend together in the dark; broken branches and disheveled underbrush becoming a treacherous tunnel she followed at breakneck speeds. Still, the assassin was fast, and she could only see the silhouette of her mark in fleeting glimpses.

All at once, the forest gave way to an open field, with rolling expanses of tall grass like so many waves on a black ocean. The assassin cut a violent swath through the peaceful surface, throwing up foaming sprays of fireflies. Ahead, loomed the wooden walls of Shimogakure, with only a single guard in view.

His alarm cry became a choked gurgle as the assassin's hand became a bright arc of moonlight, razoring over his suddenly open throat. Without pause, the assassin took hold of the dying man before he hit the ground, hurling him at the oncoming medic. A backhanded swipe deflected the body without her breaking stride, but the momentary visual blind was enough. The assassin was gone.

The sentry's alert had been heard, though, and more guards began to fill the street, rappelling down from atop the wall and emerging from nearby stations to surround her. She swore, aware of the blood staining her clothes.

"You're under arrest," said one, stepping forward with a hand on the hilt of his sword. She looked around. There were easily a score of them, armed and armored. She could take them all on, certainly, but then what? If she lost the assassin, then she had no safe haven to return to._ Time for a gambit._

"I yield," she said, slowly lowering her hands, "But the person who killed your man isn't me. He's in the city right now, probably heading toward the closest way out." The one who spoke glanced warily back over his shoulder at the guard behind him.

"Let them know," he said. His subordinate unslung the horn from his shoulder and let loose a long, resonant blast. Before the echoes had died off, the booms of heavy gates had already begun to sound out their report, and iron manacles had been fit around Sakura's wrists.

"If you're telling the truth," her jailer told her grimly, "We'll find the killer. In the meantime..."

o

The cell door clanged shut, casting a heavy pall of darkness over Sakura's surroundings. Her new accommodations were fairly standard; hay on the ground, stones in the walls, and iron around her wrists and ankles. She had no doubt that she would be able to break free easily, but then the village's guards would be after her and not the assassin._ If they are even looking._

Then again, it was perhaps foolhardy to assume that those guards could do anything against a person who had managed to evade some of Konoha's best, even managing to kill two of their number. Either way, she couldn't just stay locked up. Slowly, making as little noise as possible, she began to gather up her chains, edging closer to the tiny barred window of her door to get a feel for her surroundings.

Footsteps. Voices. She recognized one of them – the gruff tone of the jailer – but the other was unfamiliar to her: a smooth, rich baritone that likely belonged to some official. They couldn't possibly have found the assassin this quickly. What were they here for?

She centered herself, pulling her legs in under her in a ready stance. If she didn't like their intentions, then her prison stay would be just have to be cut short.

Keys rattled and the lock clicked. There was a pause, and the door swung open with a groan. The figure of the jailer stepped back, and the mysterious other moved into the chamber. With the light behind the newcomer, Sakura couldn't make out his features, only the orange-red aura formed by the edges of the pale robes he wore._ Definitely someone important. No guard would wear white clothes into a dingy jail cell._

"You are a long way from home," the voice intoned. _Home._ There was that word again. She didn't make any efforts to deny her origin, not when she wore the Uchiha crest in her hair. "You claim that you did not kill the guard, is this true?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. She knew that this stranger – a man, by the sound of his voice – was intently studying her face, illuminated by the torchlight flickering through the doorway. What was he trying to discern from her? Still, staying silent was a waste of time for both of them. She nodded ever so slightly.

The man turned, and his silhouette shifted momentarily as his long queue of hair swayed past the line of his flowing sleeves. He glided through the threshold and murmured something to her jailer. There was a grumble of protest, but the jailer entered her field of vision and crouched in front of her, fitting keys to the locks around her joints until her restraints fell away.

"You're free to go," he grunted. She moved past him warily, expecting him to bury a knife in her back at any moment. There was no doubt that this newcomer had secured her release, but why? He was waiting for her outside the cell, his back turned. His hooded robes shone with a faint luster characteristic of high-quality silk and were draped over darker, leather garments. Strangely, these were fastened with belts around his waist and open-fingered gloves at his wrists. His ensemble was complete with splint mail bracers, affording him a level of protection and movement atypical of such expensive garb. Who was he?

"Come with me," the man said, his voice quiet and dignified, "We have much to talk about." When he turned, Sakura's breath caught. His eyes were like polished silver: mercurial and piercing. She knew those eyes. They were the eyes of a Hyuuga.

o

Sakura thought it best to remain silent as the Hyuuga guided her up the stairs to his hotel room. She didn't want to attract any more attention than her foreign clothes and bloodstains already did. The innkeeper had raised an eyebrow, but had remained mercifully discreet about it, and the remainder of the patrons seemed too engrossed by their drinks and quarrels to notice her.

His door opened into a clean, if somewhat unremarkable, room, furnished in rich, autumnal hues and tasteful rosewood furniture. There was a desk, a few chairs, a bed, and a cabinet; all functional pieces. Obviously, not his permanent residence, but enough personal belongings had been laid out to tell her that he was no stranger to it.

"You'll likely want to change out of those," the Hyuuga advised, handing her a neatly folded bundle of clothes, made of the same luxurious silk he wore, "The fit is less than ideal, but it will be less conspicuous than your current attire." She frowned.

"Who are you?" she asked, speaking for the first time since her release, "Why are you doing this?"

He paused in searching through one of his drawers. "It is of interest to me when a Konohagakure shinobi turns up so close to Kumogakure, without any backup." His lack of response to her first inquiry was not lost on her.

"That you know of," she pointed out. A wan smile crossed his lips.

"I assure you, visible and existent are the same thing to me," he said in response, then produced a long, jade ribbon, "You should perhaps remove that headband, as well. The people of this village do not view your kind favorably."_ "This village,"_ she noted.

"And how do they view Hyuuga?" she asked, her tone level as she ignored the proffered band as she untied her plated headband.

"Some with suspicion, perhaps," he answered evenly, letting his hand fall to his side, "Most with indifference. It is no secret how the rest of my clan fared under Madara's tenure. There is little reason to doubt my loyalty to Kumogakure."

"Other than your history of abandoning villages?" she pressed. The Hyuuga was too unflappable for her liking, and she needed answers and action, not pointless discourse.

"Indeed," he acknowledged, opening a door to reveal an immaculate white bathroom, "You may use the facilities in any way you see fit. I will wait for you downstairs, in the tavern." He breezed past her, already reaching for the doorknob. Her hand fastened over his wrist, and he stopped, patiently waiting for her to act further.

"You think I'll still be here?" she asked quietly.

"Your attempted escape would be a most pointless venture for both of us," he responded, "As would any threats to my person you may have planned." Her emerald eyes met his, probing, but she could glean nothing from that unshakable, mirror-like silver gaze.

"Tell me your name," she demanded. He could not stay amorphous forever. There was a long silence as he held her stare, neither blinking or looking away. A light smile won over his features, perhaps the first genuine one he had given her, and he spoke.

"You may call me Neji." His slender, yet firm, fingers deftly extricated his arm from her grasp and pressed the ribbon into her hands. "Come down when you're ready."

With that, he was through the door and gone.

Feedback is appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hot water cascaded down Sakura's hair, washing away grime and blood. The shower would serve as a convenient pretext, giving her time to think about her next course of action. It was rare that she could enjoy such luxuries, anyway, and if she didn't play her cards right, the next few days could be her last. She cracked open the top of a bottle of shampoo, and the scent of coconut immediately suffused the air. Odd. She hadn't smelled any of that on him.

The man was full of contradictions, the scent of his mahogany hair notwithstanding. First and foremost, she had to find out why perhaps the last member of a Konoha clan professed allegiance to Kumo. That was too big of a question for her to leave alone. Secondly, why did he trust her so much? If she was under suspicion of having killed an armed guard, surely he could not afford to be so complacent around her.

Then again, he did possess one of the most powerful bloodlines in the world. Judging by his apparel, he was likely capable of defending himself. From her readings, she knew that the Hyuuga were renowned for their ability to damage internal organs directly, making them dangerous in close quarters. They were said to be able see omnidirectionally, and through solid objects, to boot. That made a clean escape an unlikely option, though she hoped he would have the chivalry to not watch her in the shower.

Perhaps she could enlist his abilities in searching for the assassin. Certainly, it would be more efficient than interrogating everyone in the town by herself._ Perhaps he _is_ the assassin,_ the thought occurred to her. She wondered if she might find Sasuke's disembodied eyeballs somewhere in his room. It seemed doubtful that a skilled assassin would put them in a place so easily within her reach. Barring that, she could... what? Attack him? That would certainly kill two birds with one stone, granting her firsthand knowledge on his combat abilities, though it would also deprive her of her only ally in a sealed village, genuine or not.

Her best move for the time being, she decided as she turned down the water, was to lay low and gather more information. She found a nearby towel and began to dry herself, pleased with how plush and soft the material was. The comforts of the Hyuuga's accommodations seemed to take the edge off of her dire situation, but she knew better than to let her guard down. There was a bigger plot afoot than what she was immediately aware of.

She turned her attention to the clothes that had been left to her. The Hyuuga – who was at least a head taller than her – was right about them not fitting. She decided that she would keep her undergarments, at least, as well as her boots and shorts, which were relatively free of suspicious stains, and had the added bonus of allowing her to store her battle gloves in their usual spot in her back pocket. Fortunately, the robes he had given her were meant to be worn loose, and the sleeves, though too long to be strictly considered fashionable, hung only just to her elbows. _Some sort of casual robe,_ she mused, vaguely amused by the surreality of her entire situation.

Before leaving, she tied up the loose strands of her fuchsia hair with the jade ribbon. She glanced briefly into the mirror, noting that she looked presentable, by any standard. Sakura folded her remaining clothes and tucked them out of the way. It was time to get started.

o

The tavern had emptied since she had last passed through, Sakura noted as she descended the stairs. Even the innkeeper had called it a night, it seemed, leaving only the Hyuuga, sitting at a table alone, poring over a sheaf of documents. He looked up as she came into his direct line of sight.

"The clothes suit you," he said. Though she felt a bit ridiculous, his tone brooked no insincerity and she felt a bit more at ease. "Have you had the opportunity to eat?" Strange. That was a question she hadn't been asked since her academy days, by a boy who had gone on to unwisely challenge Madara. She was all but certain that he knew she had not, but repaid his courtesy with small shake of her head. As she expected, he looked unsurprised, tapping his papers once to straighten them before stowing them away.

"What're those?" she asked, indicating his reading materials.

"Reports," he replied coolly, "Mostly from the area around Konohagakure." She was nonplussed by his honesty. "Wars are fought with information first."

"There is no war," she responded. That as much was true. Madara had attacked Kumo first, but they had been more successful than the other nations in repelling his forces. They had agreed on an uneasy armistice while the Hokage redirected his attention to the other nations.

"There will be," he reassured her. That was also true. Madara would not have forgotten the two tailed beasts in Kumo's possession, and with the seven others subjugated, he would eventually come for them. It was only a matter of time. "I'm afraid at this hour, there is only one establishment serving dinner," he said, "But it does tend to be up to par."

She wasn't sure what "up to par" meant in the lavish context in which he lived, but found herself nodding regardless. There was a comfortable rhythm to the Hyuuga's existence, and she found herself discomfitingly relaxed in his presence.

"Is this how you treat all your enemies?" she asked when he held the door open for her. The air outside was chilly, but not unpleasantly so.

"You've given me no reason to consider you as such," he responded, stepping out behind her. She took the moment to glance at the city's perimeter. The walls seemed even taller from the inside, and were lit up brightly by floodlights. Certainly, they could not be scaled without drawing a degree of attention. That was something, at least. She fell in step beside him, taking every opportunity she could to evaluate her surroundings.

Shimo was a very different place from Konoha. The people here walked comfortably in groups of two or three, conversing amongst themselves and interacting amicably with the guards patrolling the streets. Sakura had long since learned that the best way to survive was to keep her own secrets. Even at night, the town was lively, with glowing shops and raucous, unrestrained laughter spilling out from the pubs on irregular intervals. When was the last time she had heard such sounds?

"Here we are," the Hyuuga said, rousing her from her reverie.

The establishment was a modest one in size, with elegant cherry décor made up of arboreal carvings, inlaid with gold and silver and white plaster walls. "The Starry Sky," the sign read, and a small bell chimed their arrival when he opened the door. The inside retained the naturalistic theme, with silvery ferns painted on white walls, an earthy-brown carpeting and a quite charming ceiling of midnight blue, dotted with winking lights. A single table had been set for one, with a single waiter in attendance.

"Good evening," the Hyuuga addressed, "I have a guest with me tonight."

"The usual for two then, Mr. Hyuuga?" the waiter asked. When the Hyuuga nodded, he bowed in acknowledgement and hurried off to procure the fixings for another setting.

"My work has unpredictable hours," the Hyuuga said by way of explanation, "This particular enterprise stays open later than usual when I am in town for that purpose. It's become somewhat of a routine." He pulled out a chair for Sakura, and she almost sat.

No. This was not right. There was far too much on the line for her to be eating dinner with this man, chatting the night away.

"Neji," she said quietly, using his first name for the first time. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in tone. "You want me to trust you." This was not a question.

"It would certainly be welcome," he replied.

"Then I need you to be honest with me," she said, studying his reaction carefully. For just an instant, he paused, and in that infinitesimally brief window, his unaffected exterior slipped. When he spoke, his voice carried several orders more gravitas.

"Very well," he said, easing himself into his chair, "Ask, and I will answer to the best of my ability, so long as that information does not harm those not present. Are those terms acceptable?"

"And if I don't like your answers?" Sakura challenged. A pained expression briefly eclipsed Neji's visage.

"Then you may act as you feel is appropriate," he said evenly, "With the assurance that I will make no attempt to stop you." She nodded slowly. Yes, that would do. Sakura took her place opposite him.

The waiter arrived with two plates of food, and dinner began.

Feedback is appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The food was more than up to par, and the waiter had had the discretion to slip out after serving it, leaving the two alone. Sakura hadn't realized how hungry she was until she took the first bite. The meat was succulent and the vegetables delectable. Shimo had an exotic style of cooking, especially to her unpampered taste buds, but it could not be said that it was anything less than palatable. She chewed carefully, mulling over both the rich flavors and her thoughts, before speaking.

"You know who I am," Sakura said, "You know more about me than you let on."

"I do," Neji replied. His own food was largely untouched. Was he nervous, or just attentive? She knew the food wasn't poisoned. The medic had worked with almost every toxin there was, and she saw little to be gained in trying such a ploy, anyway. "Sakura Haruno, medic and apprentice to the Fifth Hokage, I know a great deal about you." His honesty was not unappreciated, but she found herself almost wishing that he had lied. At least then, she could curb this inexorable descent into the spellbinding enigma that was Neji Hyuuga. No. She would unravel this.

"How?"

"I'm afraid that is not my secret to disclose," Neji said, shaking his head, "I apologize." She frowned. A dead end, for now. She would take another approach.

"How did you end up in Kumo?" she asked. A wry smile tugged at the corner of Neji's lips and he set down the fork he was hardly using in favor of the glass of water. He settled back a bit and took a sip before beginning.

"The Hyuuga clan is – was – divided up into two halves: the main house and the branch house. My father, Hizashi, had the misfortune of being born the second of twins, and was relegated to the latter, while his older brother, Hiashi, became head of the former. The few seconds that separated them meant the difference between a life of freedom and a life of subservience."

"The cursed seal," Sakura whispered under her breath. Her regard flicked up to his unmarred forehead. The question was obvious, though unspoken.

"My freedom did not come without a price," Neji acknowledged, his lips thinning.

"Which was?" Sakura prompted. Neji's smile turned grim and he set the glass down. It rang faintly, eerily filling the silence.

"The lives of my entire clan, as well as the sovereignty of four of the five Great Shinobi Nations." The scant traces of levity in his voice had entirely disappeared, leaving only the heavy weight of self-condemnation. Sakura's eyes met his. She saw bitterness, fatigue, and years of torment before they became inscrutable silver once more. The story continued.

"When I was four, Kumogakure sent a representative to Konohagakure. Ostensibly, he was to negotiate a peace treaty between the two nations, but his true objective was to abduct the young heiress, the daughter of Hiashi. Hiashi caught him and killed him." Neji paused and took another sip of water, gazing intently into the glass. This was not a story that was easy for him to tell. "Kumogakure was furious. They demanded blood: Hyuuga blood, from the main house. They wanted the Byakugan, our eyes, so that they could pick apart the secrets for themselves. My father was selected to go in Hiashi's–" the name was spoken like a curse "–stead. His seal would render his eyes useless in death."

Sakura waited the heartbeats it took for Neji to steady himself, the food long forgotten. He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was calm.

"And so, my father died, betrayed and sacrificed by the clan to which he was a slave. They were relieved at the resolution, Konohagakure and the Hyuuga clan. No one noticed when I slipped out of the complex. I was angry, to say the least, and I suppose I stepped out for a bit of air, a bit of space. That was when I met the masked man."

_It was easy. Who would question the temporary disappearance of a branch child?_

_The walk to the woods was a short one, and the wall low enough for a talented child to clear with ease. Neji landed with a grunt, and started walking. They would catch him eventually, he knew. Maybe they would use the seal on him. But for now, he was just relieved to be out, away from all the memories of his father that seemed to haunt him at every turn._

"_A beautiful night, don't you think?"_

_Neji whipped around, instantly adopting the rudimentary Gentle Fist stance he had been taught. He had not activated his Byakugan, but it was rare that someone could catch him completely unawares. A man appeared from the shadows, tilting his head in curious study of the boy._

"It was night, but my Byakugan was sharp enough, even at that age, to see that he was no ordinary human being. He had red eyes – Sharingan eyes – and a face as scarred and twisted as the mask he wore."

"_My, my, if it isn't the child of the noble Hyuuga tribute. Well, perhaps not so wonderful for you, then. Poor thing. What a cruel world this is."_

_Neji said nothing. Was the man mocking him, or was he sincere? It was hard to say._

"_Ah, and a spirited one, I see," the man said, kneeling to inspect the child. Neji tried to pull away, or strike, but was held fast by the hypnotic swirl of the man's eyes. "Tsk tsk tsk, what a shame. You have your clan's eyes at such an early age, and yet they've branded you like chattel."_

"I could have my freedom, he told me, and my vengeance, so that no one else would ever have to suffer the injustice that my father did. All I had to do was be there again, in two day's time. I never saw him again. When I returned, Madara was there. He had set up some kind of circle of power, and bade me to enter it." A beat, as Neji collected himself. "He studied my cursed seal for few minutes, and made a single hand seal."

_The runes came alive with roaring light, throwing sharp shadows through the forest with chromatic flares of every imaginable shade of green. Neji could feel a power, ancient and vast, resonating with his seal, tearing apart the strands of its fabrication and unleashing it with terrible purpose._

_One by one, the runes began to animate, stretching and contorting into viscous, ebony tendrils, twisting and winding, strangling the rays of light with spidery fingers. The colors corroded black, writhing in agony as they tried to escape. They succumbed, wilting and shriveling into the earth from which they came, and for an instant, there was silence._

_Then, the explosion._

"Every single member of the branch house died instantly, and the main house would soon follow in their footsteps."

_Neji collapsed, trembling and gasping for breath, clutching at his bleeding forehead._

"_How is the taste of vengeance, boy?" Madara smirked, towering over the fallen child, "Sweet, is it not?" When Neji did not answer, could not answer, he grabbed a fistful of Neji's hair and yanked him into the air. Neji screamed. __"__Ah, so the prodigal child lives," Madara exulted, "A promise made is a promise kept. Enjoy your... freedom, while it lasts." A flick of his wrist, and the child was tossed aside, landing in a heap._

"_I'll kill you," Neji swore through tears, dirt and clenched teeth, "I swear it." Madara only laughed._

"The Kumogakure caravan found me days later in the woods, far away from Konohagakure, exhausted and half-dead. They told me of the destruction that had taken place, that the place I called home was no longer a safe place to be, that Madara had seized power."

"And they took you in?" Sakura asked, her voice hushed.

"Of course," Neji said with a bitter laugh, "I was – and am – the last Hyuuga." Cold fingers of understanding stroked Sakura's heart as the pieces began to fall into place. It was all so obvious, now.

"So you bided your time," she said, "And trained. Plotted. Readied yourself for the day you would meet him again." His eyes met hers. She knew that he could read them, that he knew what she now understood, and where her line of inquiry would lead. He didn't look away.

"I did." There was only one last thing to confirm.

"You are the assassin." She could see everything. The way his eyelashes moved as he blinked, the nigh-invisible circumference of his pupils tightening, the slight cohesion of his lips as they parted, and the fibers of his being coalescing as he steeled himself.

"I am."

Before Sakura knew it, the table had been smashed aside, and Neji was on his back, with her legs pinning his arms and her hands around his throat.

Feedback is appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The ersatz night sky was reflected in Neji's eyes, turning them into replicas of Sasuke's. It was a cruel mockery. She hadn't noticed how similar the two looked, both with noble, aristocratic features. But while Sasuke was fire, Neji was like water. Even now, with his life balanced on a razor's edge, he offered no resistance to her.

It would be so easy. A mere twitch would be all it would take to snap his neck. A twitch, and Ino, Kiba and Sasuke would all be avenged. And yet, under the cool regard he leveled, she hesitated.

"_Why?_" she asked, her voice trembling with barely restrained fury, "Why did you kill them?"

"Ino was an unfortunate witness," was the neutral response. She was stunned. He knew their names? "Kiba had to be eliminated to isolate you." _So pragmatic. It was all business to him._

"And Sasuke?"

"Sasuke had the misfortune of being loved by his brother," Neji sighed faintly, "Before he died, Itachi Uchiha gave to him his eyes, the last pair of Mangekyou Sharingan in the world after Madara systematically neutralized each of the Akatsuki. It was for this reason, and this reason alone, that Madara allowed Sasuke, as well as yourself, to survive." Thoughts ran wild in Sakura's mind._ How does he know all this?_ "Madara has something planned. Something that will require a new set of eyes for him, when he is done. I imagine he has no intention of being blind in the new world he's trying to create, and so I took steps to delay his machinations."

There it was. Every reason laid out, every motivation thought out. She calmed her breathing, and her thoughts fell in line.

"Where are the eyes?" Those were the key. If she could get those back, then all was not lost.

"I destroyed them as soon as I was able." The response was delivered with impersonal coldness. "I could not risk letting them fall into Madara's hands again." The words were like a funereal knell to Sakura's ears. If the eyes were gone, then her fate was sealed. "I made it appear as though they were intact so that you would pursue me."

"Why?" she asked again, "Why me?"

"Insurance," came the answer, "Information. Madara needs you to extract the remaining tailed beasts, and no one knows his plans more intimately than you, save Madara himself." Rage, hot and bitter, boiled over in Sakura's chest.

"I could kill you," she snarled, "I _should_ kill you. You've trapped me in a situation where going back means death. You've killed my friend, my teammate, my..." She stopped. Her what? Her true love? Hardly. The man he killed was one who could barely stand the sight of her.

"You certainly could," Neji said quietly, "I have never imagined that I would live a long, fulfilling life. If this is where it must end, then so be it. I do not think that Madara's world is the sort that you would want to live in, however, and the ability to decide your own future is the incentive I levy for your aid."

Her first instinct was to say no. She could run. Hide. With her talents and abilities, she could surely eke out an existence elsewhere. It would not be a glamorous life, granted, but she would survive. Yet, there was a part of her that tired of merely surviving. How many had she sacrificed for the sake of survival? Was life so precious to her that there was nothing she valued more?

"_The ability to decide your own future."_ Sakura had scarcely considered the possibility before. Madara's dystopian visions had always been an inevitability in her eyes. She had lived her life believing that her fate was set in stone. But now, with this stranger's life in her hands and nowhere to go, she dared to hope.

"You have no reason to trust me."

"Nor you, me," Neji agreed, "But desperate times call for desperate measures, as it is said, and I am willing to take the mutual leap of faith, if you are."

_How surreal life is,_ Sakura thought,_ How quickly it changes._ And so, Sakura, the realist; Sakura, the survivalist; and Sakura, the one who now held the most fragile spark of a dream in her heart, stood, and offered Neji her hand.

o

They left the restaurant as surreptitiously as possible. Neji had reassured her that the damages had already been more than paid for in advance, and she found herself believing him. She wondered how far in advance all this had been planned. It was fortunate that no one had noticed the commotion; all it took for her to disappear from the public eye was a simple illusion that masked her hair to a mousy brown.

There were still a few points that she would have to inquire about, but those could wait for the journey to Kumo. For now, they had to make their exit from the city. While some of the personnel had been bribed or otherwise coerced into cooperating, there were many who hadn't, and mistakes this close to Konoha would be very costly indeed.

The guard that met them at the wall greeted them with a cheery wave and removed his helmet to reveal tousled blond locks.

"This is the medic, then?" he asked, his dark eyes lingering on her perhaps a moment longer than necessary, "I've heard of your feats. I know a few techniques, myself."

"Indeed," Neji acknowledged tersely, "Is everything prepared?" The guard's eyes shifted to Neji for the first time.

"You're not going to introduce me, Neji?" the guard asked through his grin. He sighed when the Hyuuga remained silent. "Come with me, then. By the way," he flashed Sakura an even broader smile, "My name is C." Sakura nodded politely in greeting. "Ah, a shy one," he said, undaunted, leading them through the guard station, "Well, this is it." He indicated a small door, next to a sleeping guard. "Your ticket out of this dump."

There were two chestnut horses patiently waiting on the other side, close to the tree line. Neji swung up easily onto one, but before Sakura could mount hers, the blond caught her hand. Under his Shimo surcoat, she could see that he was wearing the gear of a Kumo jounin.

"I'll be going on ahead of you guys," C said, his beaming smile never fading, "But you'll be seeing more of me in the future, I promise." Without addressing Neji, he departed, flying through the treetops.

Sakura settled into the saddle of her mare and frowned.

"We'd get to where we're going faster without these," she said.

"The road to Kumogakure is neither a short one, nor an easy one," Neji replied, his eyes watching C's retreating figure long after Sakura could no longer see him, "I imagine you'll want an opportunity to recuperate. It has been a long day for you." The horse nickered faintly when he tapped his heels against its sides, and started off at a trot. Sakura's steed kept pace with that of the brooding Hyuuga, and in moments, they were safely enveloped by the trees and darkness around Shimo.

_There's some kind of deep-seated tension between those two,_ she noticed. She wondered if it was a historic grudge or general mistrust. The thought occurred to her that the Hyuuga lived in a city that very much valued him only for his eyes._ That would make it very difficult for him to trust anyone._ Maybe that was why he was so willing to invest his faith in her. A lifetime of solitude after a cataclysmic tragedy would certainly leave a hollow in anyone._ Those same words could be used to describe my life,_ she speculated. Really, she had only ever had Lee to talk freely to, and she held things in reserve even from him. _Lee._ She hoped he was all right.

_Even if the Hyuuga's circumstances are similar to mine, his motivations are very different,_ she noted. Everything that had happened so far had been at his manipulation, including her continued presence. There were things that she was willing to trust him on, but it would still be important for her to keep a certain distance from the unknown quantity that was the Hyuuga.

The medic recalled the way he had shrugged off a punch from her strong enough to put down any number of other shinobi. If things went sour between them, she would have to have a better angle of attack to deal with him, especially now that she was aware of his expanded capabilities. She had seen with her own eyes what he had done to Lee and Kiba, both skilled hand-to-hand combatants, without tapping into his latent abilities.

She had her own ways of crippling targets, of course, as well as her ace in the hole, but she still had no idea what other abilities the Hyuuga might have in store. Caution would be the name of the game, for now. The medic resolved to learn more about him, both directly from the source, as well as from the people around him, in Kumo.

Luckily for her, she already knew where to start.

Feedback is appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"We'll make camp here," the Hyuuga said abruptly. Sakura blinked at the sudden break in the silent monotony of the journey. By her estimation, they had another hour or so left until they reached Kumo. "We'll be coming up to the mountains around Kumogakure soon," he explained, "It's a path best attempted well rested. You'll want the opportunity to sleep, as well, before you meet with the residents. There're blankets in your saddlebags." He dismounted easily and tied his reins to a nearby tree. "I'll procure the firewood we'll need." Without waiting for her to respond, he vanished into the dense brush.

Sakura frowned. She had watched him become increasingly more tense as the miles had passed, and hadn't found an excuse to start up a dialogue. Were things worse in Kumo than she had originally thought, or was he agitated by her reluctance to trust him? She assumed it was a combination of the two. Perfect conditions for her to learn more about him. Sakura felt a twinge of guilt at exploiting such openings, but the circumstances left her few options in the matter.

Neji returned as she was unfolding the second blanket. She hung it neatly over her mount, with the first, to avoid getting it dirty. Silently, he began to stack the armful of wood he'd gathered into a neat pile. There was a spark, and a campfire crackled to life merrily. The faint purr of the flames were the only sound in the little campsite, even when she handed him one of the blankets.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, more bluntly than she had intended. He blinked, making eye contact for the first time in a long while, and his silver eyes seemed to clear.

"As far as I am aware, yes."

"You seem distracted," she pressed, draping her own blanket around herself as she saw him do the same. The gray wool was plain, but warm; a good complement to the dry heat of the fire. "Is there something I should know about?"

"There are certain elements I anticipate confrontation with, some of which require more thought than others," Neji said, settling into a seated position, "I apologize for my lack of attention to you." She sat next to him; sitting across the light from him would prevent her vision from adjusting to the darkness. Neji, too, kept his eyes averted.

"Am I one of them?" Neji looked up.

"I certainly hope not," he said, "Quite the opposite; I hope you will become an asset." Her flare of irritation at his objectification coincided with a particularly loud pop of the firewood. Sparks danced erratically off into the night.

"In your vendetta against Madara?"

"Yes." His answers were steady, punctual and premeditated. The Hyuuga was not a man who left things to chance, not if he could help it, anyway.

"You don't understand how strong he is," she said flatly. Her words came both from her vexation as well as the truth. "He's not someone you can kill."

"I don't need to be stronger than him," the Hyuuga answered, "Just faster for a moment. That's all it takes." The medic snorted.

"You're not even faster than I am."

"If you require proof of the concept," Neji said, a bit more steel in his voice than she was accustomed to, "Then I can demonstrate, once we are in Kumogakure."_ Excellent_, she thought, _A chance to see the full extent of his abilities._

"Kumogakure," she echoed, "That's a strangely formal way to talk about your home." If Neji was surprised at her sudden change in topic, he didn't show it.

"I don't consider it my home," he said, his expression as blank as his tone, "It is a useful resource to me, nothing more."

"Where, then?" Sakura asked, her curiosity piqued, "Where would you go after all this is said and done?"

"I hadn't considered it," Neji confessed, "Such conjecture assumes I survive my encounter with Madara." Sakura frowned. She'd never heard anyone speak so callously about his own death. Though only hours earlier, she had wanted nothing more than to see him dead, the prospect of it now, with him so accepting of it, had lost most of its appeal.

How different were they? Two shinobi with neither hearth nor home, both with bloodied hands that clung desperately to what shreds of life and hope they had left. What would it solve, to kill him? Despite all his calm and composure, in that moment, he seemed no more than a pawn, taking lives without choice, the same way she had.

The fire died away in the lull that followed as the cool night air won out over the heat. They watched together as the merry tendrils turned to sullen embers, and then to lifeless ash. Neji stood, gently cloaking Sakura with his blanket. It was still warm from his body, and the welcome sensation sent involuntary shivers down her spine.

"Get some rest," he said, "I'll keep watch."

She wanted to call out to him, but didn't know what to say. In silence, she watched him leave.

o

A breeze stirred Neji's bangs and he ran a hand absently through his hair to straighten it again. It was windier up in the canopy, but the altitude was strategically advantageous; his lofty perch afforded him an unobstructed view, all the way to the horizon. He didn't anticipate encounters with anyone so far out from civilization, but it paid to err on the side of caution. The Hyuuga's Byakugan activated, adopting a burning white radiance, and showed him a sweeping view of his surroundings. Solid wood and obscuring leaves became as transparent as fine crystal, and he watched as the medic leaned back against a tree trunk and fell asleep.

_At least she trusts my proficiency as a sentry, if not my moral character,_ he thought with a wry smile. Granted, he hadn't expected the medic to warm up to him instantaneously, given his vivisection of her love interest, but he hadn't expected progress to be so difficult, either. Relations would only become more strained once in Kumogakure, as well, as there would doubtlessly be attempts to separate them.

Still, there was no point in forcing things. The medic was too strong-willed and too smart for him to simply subvert. As obstructive as it was, however, her fierce independence evoked a begrudging sort of admiration in him. While Madara's darkness was heavy enough to smother whole nations, she had retained her wild spirit, a feat that took no small amount of tenacity.

He closed his eyes – a purely habitual tic, as he could see through his eyelids as easily as anything else – and began to reorganize his thoughts. What measures could he take to improve the situation?_ It would likely be propitious to cease thinking of her as just "the medic,"_ he postulated. _Sakura Haruno._ He let his consciousness absorb the name.

"Sakura," he said out loud, feeling it roll off his tongue. It sounded natural. Pleasant, almost._ Good,_ he thought. Emotional appeals and subtleties were far from the sort of approach he liked using, but they would be necessary. C had already begun using them against him.

He was going to be a problem, that Neji already knew. The blond was determined to drive a wedge between the two. Neji had anticipated such resistance; there would be several more like him in Kumogakure. What remained to be seen, though, was how many of the shinobi he had good relations with would change their fidelity once they laid eyes on Sakura. She had been no stranger to the battlefield, and had exacted more than her share of casualties there, many from Kumogakure's ranks. To further exacerbate the tensions, her hair and her fighting style were anything but inconspicuous. The murmurs of dissension had been more than audible when he had announced his intention to bring her into the village.

Even in the worst case situation, he had secured a lifeline to Sakura in the form of her challenge, as tenuous as it was. Better still, the spar would give him a convenient opportunity to inquire about a few items, items which would be best discussed in the absence of those who might overhear. Fortuitously, the training ground he frequented was well out of the way of villagers and shinobi alike.

Neji rested one hand in the other, placing both palm-up in his lap and focused momentarily on the circulation of his internal energies. With each successive breath, a fraction of the fatigue he had accrued through the day fell away, leaving his body lighter and his mind more clear.

A slender ray of sunlight caressed his eyelids and he stirred. The last push up the treacherous slopes to Kumogakure would take them several hours. Events after that would be outside of his direct control, but he would rendezvous with Sakura in the afternoon. He stood, shaking his muscles loose. His plan reaffirmed, he launched himself into open air, his robes fluttering around him as he fell.

It was time to move on.

Feedback is appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"_Get out of here, Karui." The command was quiet, but firm. From behind the swordsman, the redhead balked._

"_Don't tell me what to do, assh–!"_

"_You're injured." The medic could see three lines of blood on the redhead's arm, probably from Kiba's claws._ But he had died already, hadn't he?_ "You're no match for her." The lollipop clacked against his teeth as he spoke, and the redhead shimmered away like a mirage._

_His sword shattered in her grasp and his body became blood on her hands. There was a faraway scream._

"_I'll kill you for this, Sak–"_

"–ura." The medic's eyelids fluttered, her emerald eyes suddenly alive. Like pools of still water, the Hyuuga's Byakugan showed her image back to her. An odd expression flickered over his visage when her gaze met his. "Good morning, Sakura."

"Good morning," she said uncertainly, her voice still thick from sleep. She swallowed and shook her head, taking a sharp breath to let the rush of oxygen force her body awake. In the blink of an eye, she was on her feet, her muscles already warming and ready to go._ Strange._ She didn't normally sleep so deeply, especially on missions. The events of yesterday must have taken more out of her than she had thought.

"Would you care for some breakfast?" Neji asked, already withdrawing a black lacquered thermos and smaller, matching cannister from his saddlebags. "It isn't much, I'm afraid. Civilian food was unfeasible to travel with, but the tea should be acceptable, though likely only tepid."

Despite the temperature, the tea was still surprisingly refreshing. It was primarily green, with other notes that she couldn't immediately identify. The taste was an odd juxtaposition to the soldier pills which made up the rest of her morning meal. She was used to eating them plain. Sometimes, when the battles dragged on enough, they were accompanied by the taste of dirt on her hands, or even the blood of friend and foe alike. Tea was a new one.

"The tea is good," Sakura said, screwing the thermos' cap back on. A wan smile complemented Neji's response.

"My father taught me how to make tea before he died." It was uncommon, how blasé he was about death. She supposed it was probably a good trait to have, given his occupation. "I could show you, if you like."_ He makes tea?_ It was a bizarre image, yet fitting: his slender fingers, the same ones that had ripped out Sasuke's eyes, cultivating tea leaves.

"...ng wrong, Sakura?" She blinked; she hadn't realized that she'd been staring at his hands.

"No_–_ I mean_–_ I would like that, yes." Neji looked more concerned than anything. "I'm fine, really." She flashed him a quick smile. He didn't seem entirely convinced, but he chose not to pursue the topic.

"If you're ready, then, we should set out," Neji said, "The horses will be able to find their own way back. Our route will be faster, but it will still be..."

o

Long. Sakura could see why none of the Konoha shinobi had managed to so much as reach Kumo. Even with Neji guiding her, they would have been in the sights of any sentries for far longer than would be necessary to mount a capable defense. Still, with all of their allies scattered, and Madara able to focus all of Konoha's manpower on a siege, it would only be a matter of time. The Hyuuga's intervention was the only reason the invasion had not already begun.

"Welcome back, Neji." There were two figures standing outside of the gates. One, a reserved-looking woman with silver hair, with a precise inflection to her words, and the other a redhead._ Karui_, Sakura realized with a vague feeling of deja vu,_ What a small world we live in._

"Thank you, Mabui," Neji said with a light smile, one returned by Mabui.

"The Raikage wanted me to escort you to him for debriefing," the Raikage's assistant said pleasantly, "Karui is here–"

"–to see the Queen Bitch of Konoha," the redhead sneered. Evidently, she had not forgotten about Sakura's participation in the battles between the two villages.

"–of her own accord," the assistant finished, smiling apologetically at the medic, "Someone will be along to collect you shortly. Until then, we ask that you please remain here." Neji brushed past her, touching her shoulder to redirect her attention from Karui's glower.

"I'll come find you at the earliest opportunity," he murmured softly, not loud enough for anyone else's ears. Sakura didn't miss the way Karui's glare intensified at his contact with her._ Envy?_ She nodded slightly. A sudden wind touched Sakura's hair as air rushed to fill the space where the Hyuuga used to be as he and Mabui took their leave.

"So," Karui jeered, sauntering forward, "Do you always wear the clothes of people you've just met, or just the ones you let fuck you?"

"Jealous?" Sakura inquired mildly. Karui's amber eyes narrowed dangerously._ Definitely envy._

"Listen, bitch," the redhead snarled, "Just because Neji thinks you're useful doesn't mean I'll hesitate to cut you down." Her hand tapped the hilt of her sword meaningfully. The medic glanced the redhead over for a moment longer._ There are more important things to do than antagonize her, _she decided,_ Especially since she won't be the only one with a grudge._ She needed a contingency plan, in case things went south.

The walls were built strong and high, as a defense against outside forces, but for someone on the inside, they would be a barrier. There would be no shelter for her against long-ranged attacks if she tried to clear them. The gates looked sturdily constructed, but she doubted the hinges would be able to withstand her attacks.

Karui's sword rattled against its sheath as her knuckles turned white from exertion.

"Keep your fucking eyes on me when I'm talking to you!" The sword freed itself a half-inch, the blade flashing in the mid-morning sun, before another hand stopped its progress.

"Now, now, Karui," C tutted reproachfully from over Karui's shoulder, "That's not how we treat our guests." The redhead glared at the blond, but relinquished her hold, letting her sword fall back into place.

"This is the Konoha dog that killed Omoi, have you forgotten?"

"Wars and tragedies go hand in hand, sadly," C said, favoring Sakura with a disarming smile, "But let's let bygones be bygones, hm?" Karui spat.

"Eat shit, C," she snapped disdainfully, jerking away from the smiling blond. "This isn't over," she warned Sakura before spinning on her heel and stalking into the village.

"On behalf of Kumo, I apologize for Karui's behavior and language," C said, the curve of his lips somewhat strained, "It might not be much, but I'd love to buy you lunch to make up for that unpleasant exchange."

"Lunch would be fine." It wouldn't hurt to have another ally in Kumo. She was certain the Hyuuga would be able to find her, anyway.

o

The assistant rapped smartly on the Fourth Raikage's door, pointedly ignoring the gaping hole in the wall beside it.

"Neji Hyuuga, here to see you, sir," she announced.

"Come in," A's voice boomed, weirdly distorted by the dual entrances. With a sigh of infinite patience, Mabui opened the door to usher Neji inside. The Raikage stood in the center of his office, one foot on the destroyed punching bag on the ground like a gloating boxer, with the white cloak of his title around his thick neck like a towel. His hat was left discarded on his desk.

"I'll need a new one of these," he declared, indicating his fallen opponent as he toweled the sweat off of his hulking musculature.

"Yes, sir," Mabui said dutifully. She waved her hand over the broken equipment, and it glowed blue, warping and contorting into a multitude of writhing snakes before coalescing into a single beam of lightning and disappearing skyward, yet leaving no mark on the ceiling as it passed through. "I'll have another one sent up."

"She's a good girl," A sighed as she left, relocating behind his desk. The oversized chair groaned under his weight. "You'd do well to get her before someone else does."

"I don't imagine she would appreciate that," Neji said stiffly, acutely aware that the assistant was still well within earshot.

"Bullshit," the Raikage snorted, banging a massive fist against his desk. The heavy golden bands around his arm left a sizable dent in his desktop. He frowned. By the looks of the immaculate walls and floor, Mabui had just had the office redone. She would not be happy about the damage. "I've seen the way she looks at you. Eh, well, your life." His dark features suddenly became serious. "So, the mission?"

"Went as expected," Neji reported smoothly, "Sasuke Uchiha is dead, and his eyes destroyed. Resistance was met in the form of Kiba Inuzuka and Ino Yamanaka. They were terminated. No other casualties were inflicted. Sakura Haruno is now in my custody in Kumogakure."

"Too many dying too young. All because of Madara's insanity," the Raikage mused, tweaking his golden mustache, "His apprentice, eh? A capable medic, that one. Strong fighter, too."

"She will be of great use," the Hyuuga said tonelessly.

"There's more in life than what's 'of use,' Neji," A grunted, leaning back in his chair. It creaked in protest. "One day, I hope you realize that. People are more than just tools to be used. You need to open up more, let some of them in."

"I have everything I need."

"In that empty house of yours, off as far away as possible from everyone else?" A scoffed, "Alone with your tea plants? Worrying that if a second pair of Byakugan happened to pop up in the village, you'll suddenly become expendable?" A frown briefly darkened Neji's features. A had hit a nerve. He stood, dwarfing the Hyuuga's lean frame as he patted Neji's shoulder mollifyingly. "You're like a son to me, Neji. I just want the best for you," he said, as apology for his harsh words. Neji sighed, and the tension in his body dissipated.

"I know," he conceded. When he had arrived Kumogakure seventeen years ago, A had taken him under his wing. The Raikage had raised him, trained him, and protected him from the countless people who had sought to claim his eyes._ "What use do I have for a pair of bleeding eyeballs?"_ A had roared,_ "I'd rather have my right-hand man."_ And that had been that.

"Well, you better go get your medic," A said gruffly, shooing Neji away with a wave, "Let me know if you need more help with my technique. You're never too cool to learn from your elders, Mr. Lone Wolf."

Neji laughed softly as he opened the door, and the Raikage smiled at the sound. It was a rare one from the stoic Hyuuga. The door clicked shut, and A turned to his ruined desk.

"Now, to hide this..."

Feedback is appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_The people of Kumo are taller than those of Konoha,_ the medic noted, watching passers-by through the window. Everything seemed to be bolder here: from the colorful, clashing shops with their individualistic architecture, to the brash, boisterous conversations. These were not people who were afraid to show who they were, and were fiercely proud of that fact.

"You're not much for conversation, are you?" Sakura blinked, jarred from her thoughts, and turned to see C's dark eyes scrutinizing her with rapt attention.

"I'm still trying to put some pieces together," she said, picking up her untouched meal. It was some kind of sandwich, made from a single doughy wrapping and stuffed with meat and vegetables. She bit into it, letting the menagerie of flavors play over her tongue before she set it down again.

"Well, lemme know if you need help connecting the dots," C smiled. His own sandwich was already half-finished. "Oh, before I forget, I took the liberty of putting together some clothes for you, since I'm sure you're a bit lacking." He glanced over her shirt – still Neji's actually – as though to drive the point home. From under the table, he produced a sizable bundle of clothes. "It's mostly the standard Kumo uniform and such, but I figured it'd be better than nothing."

"Thanks," she said, taking the package. The attention she was now getting from seemingly everyone was a far cry from her isolated existence in Konoha. It was a paradoxically more unsettling sensation than any combat situation she had found herself in. "What do you think of Neji?" she asked suddenly. C paused mid-bite, frowning.

"The Hyuuga?" he asked, after chewing carefully and swallowing, "What do you mean?"

"I mean you two don't seem to get along," she pressed, "Why is that?"

"He doesn't play well with most," C said dismissively, finishing his food in a few rapid bites, "Really, the only people he's friendly with are A and Mabui. And Karui, I guess, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms."_ Karui,_ Sakura noted mentally.

"If the Raikage is fine with him, shouldn't that be good enough for the rest of the village?" she asked.

"He's just a tool," C replied nonchalantly. His words were coming more smoothly, now. "The Raikage thinks he's useful, that's all." His logic made sense. The Hyuuga had more than proved himself capable. Still, something about the way C spoke gave Sakura pause._ Keep asking._

"What's the story behind Karui?"

"She's been trying to get him to loosen up more than just his personality, if you know what I mean." C shifted uncomfortably, glancing poignantly at her mostly neglected plate. "Not sure why. Look, can we talk about something other than that guy?"

"He's the reason I'm here," Sakura said, ignoring his hint. There was something more than met the eye, something far more important than lunch. "And, I assume, the person primarily responsible for me. I'm trying to get a grasp of his character."

"Good luck with that," C said with a derisive snort, "No one gets through to him. Why don't we chat a little bit about you, instead?"

"Me?" Sakura ask blankly, "I would have thought that you'd have read my dossier already. Neji seems to know me well enough."

"The Hyuuga's the only one who has access to that information," C said, his lips thinning with disapproval. "Don't know where he got it." His eyebrow twitched with irritation and he glanced over Sakura's shoulder. "Well, speak of the devil enough, and he doth appear. Looks like our time is up." Sakura turned to follow his line of sight. Across the street, Neji stood patiently outside of a building, arms crossed and eyes closed, his white attire made all the more obvious by the wide berth people gave him.

C dropped a handful of bills on the table and stood. Sakura followed suit, picking up the clothes that he had given her.

"I'll see you around, Sakura," C said, the shadow of a frown replacing his usual smile, as they exited the restaurant. Sakura barely had time to thank him for lunch before he had gone. She crossed the bustling street to Neji, who opened his eyes as she approached.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," the Hyuuga replied vaguely, starting off. She walked beside him, matching his pace easily. It was peculiar, the way he could remain unfathomable to her at times, even when she knew more about him than most anyone else. She could see why C had described Neji's interpersonal relationships the way that he had.

"How long?" she repeated firmly. He didn't bat an eye.

"Fourteen minutes." She didn't doubt that C had seen him before, only feigning the realization when it had become convenient to do so.

"You could have come in, you know."

"It would be rude to interrupt." When had their conversational ebb and flow fallen into such a comfortable rhythm? In a few short days, it had become like second nature to her. Was it their commonalities, or his frank veracity?

"I think I've set the bar for discourtesy at meals pretty high," Sakura remarked. The comment seemed to surprise Neji as much as it did herself, as evidenced by the laugh that broke out from his lips. It was an unexpectedly warm sound, and Sakura felt a tingle of pleasure for having coaxed it out of him, one that sparked in her stomach and raced up her spine. Her steps seemed lighter for having heard it. "Where are we going?"

"To the training grounds," Neji said. His smile lingered for a moment longer before fading, leaving his visage just a touch softer. "I believe I owe you a spar."

o

Neji cleared the chain-link fence in a single leap. His billowing robes turned him into a silk wraith when he was in motion, adding an otherworldly elegance to his naturally effortless movements. Sakura landed beside him, her heart rate already speeding up in anticipation. This was a familiar setting for her, one she had spent much of her time in.

In a matter of steps, the enclosing fence was no longer visible. Bamboo had grown, thick and tall, inside of its boundaries. They had passed a number of training grounds on the way here, none of which had the same sort of visual blinds._ The location is conspicuously far away from everything else, as well,_ Sakura frowned. It seemed the Hyuuga had no interest in granting prying eyes audience to his techniques.

She caught a glimpse of the actual site through the thinning veil of greenery. For something so secretive, it was certainly nothing spectacular. The earth was covered in wild grasses, with the only noteworthy feature being patches of stunted growth, often in the formation of long lines._ Some sort of technique?_ she ventured a guess. Neji stepped out into the open air, crossing the grounds to stand in the center before turning to face her.

"Ready?" he asked.

"You're not going to change out of those robes?" she jibed, "They look expensive."

"It would be a small price to pay for..." He paused, and a frown creased his brow. "It seems our exercise will see an inauspicious delay." There was a rustle, and a shadow darted over the sun. Sakura looked up just in time to see Karui descend from above like a bird of prey, landing behind the Hyuuga. The sword she had nearly unsheathed this morning was bare, now, and held loosely in one hand, while another was gripped in her other, still housed securely in its scabbard.

"I thought I'd find you here," the redhead crowed. Her demeanor was smug, but Sakura could see the roiling anger underneath that brazen exterior. The corner of Neji's lips tightened. "Since we're here, how about a bout, you and me?" She lofted the sheathed sword at the medic. Neji snatched it out of the air without looking.

"Sakura is my guest," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "I will not tolera–"

"It's fine, Neji," the medic interrupted. Neji's eyes shifted a fraction of a millimeter to regard her directly. "I'll settle this." Without waiting for his response, she stepped forward, drawing the sword straight from his hand. The blade, keenly honed, shone with deadly promise. While it was not her weapon of choice, she had had adequate experience with it, both on and off the field. The Hyuuga was like a statue as she stepped around him: rigid and silent.

Karui was already rushing forward, a savage grin on her face. The medic dug her heels in and met the charge head-on, blocking with the flat of her sword. Karui's attack ricocheted off harmlessly and the redhead jumped back, circling and sizing up her opponent. The redhead had superior finesse and training on her side, the medic knew, but she had the advantage of raw speed and strength._ She'll overwhelm my defense, given enough time. I have to attack!_

The next slash cut was stronger, but parried as proficiently as the first. When the redhead skipped back to neutral ground this time, the medic surged forward. Karui's eyes widened with surprise, but she deflected the medic's horizontal chop just in time. Sakura redirected her swing at Karui's ankles instantly. The redhead's dodge turned into a stumble, taken aback by the ferocity of the medic's counterattack. Off-balance, she barely ducked out of the way of the medic's forward thrust. The follow-up slash was forceful enough to send sparks flying and Karui to the ground. She rolled away, popping up onto her feet again, weaving the tip of her sword in a defensive lattice to fend off the pursuing medic as she regained her balance. Undeterred, the medic waded in, cleaving fast and hard at the redhead's center mass.

There was a flash of lightning, and the smell of ozone stung Sakura's nostrils.

The medic launched herself into a backward flip, putting some distance between herself and the redhead, leaving the severed half of her sword behind._ Shit._ She had seen that technique before, the infused blade that sliced through flesh and bone as though they were air. Evidently, it could do the same to steel.

"What's the matter, scared?" Karui gloated, arcs of residual electricity still clinging to her sword. Sakura ignored her ridicule, already formulating her strategy.

There was no doubt in her mind that the redhead would use that technique again. She would give her a target, then: the rest of her weapon. If she could avoid a fatal blow, it would put her in range to put her fists to use._ I'll take a hit, but I can heal,_ she thought grimly,_ I'll make sure Karui won't be able to try that again._ Clenching her free hand into a fist, she lunged.

There was a flash of lightning, and the smell of ozone.

Feedback is appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lee allowed himself a moment of respite as he reached the top step. Most of his injuries had been healed, but there was a still a vague tightness in his left lung. It wasn't abnormal; few medics had the control it took to repair internal organs without at least somewhat of a hitch, and his long trek back to Konoha certainly hadn't helped. He expected to be back in fighting form by the end of the day.

The door to the Hokage's office was ajar. Madara was not one to waste time on pointless gestures like knocking, and there was no one alive in Konoha foolish enough to eavesdrop. Not on him. The martial artist eased himself in and knelt before the Hokage's desk.

He was vaguely aware of the presence of two others in the room, one of whom was responsible for closing the door behind him. They stood obscured by the shadows, though, and Lee didn't dare look back to identify them. While having onlookers was unusual, he wasn't concerned. If Madara wanted to kill him, he was more than capable of doing so alone. Unless, of course, he wanted to make an example of the martial artist.

"So," Madara mused softly, his fingers steepled, "The dog is dead, the medic is gone, and you are crippled."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Lee answered. Arguing semantics in this room was often fatal. "But I will be fit for action by tomorrow." A low laugh.

"There will be no need for that," the Hokage said languidly, "Tell me, Lee. Where has the Hyuuga boy taken my medic?"

Lee's blood ran cold._ He knows!_ Not just about Lee, but also about the Hyuuga. His mouth opened instinctively to reply, but all that came forth was empty air.

"Think carefully before you answer," Madara said, his voice like oiled velvet, "I've let you live and carry on with your little meetings because your loyalty has been unwavering, and because the Hyuuga boy's struggles amuse me." A chuckle, then his voice turned hard. "If you lie to me, though, you'll find me much less forgiving."

o

_Brightness. Numbness._ For a moment, all Sakura could see was light. Her body felt disjointed from her consciousness; she couldn't move. The medic squinted her eyes against the glare, praying that she would see something more than the afterworld. Slowly, shapes began to swim into focus.

Neji stood before her, his eyes burning a terrible white, wreathed in an aura of fulgurant lightning. It shone white, pure and stark against the blue charge of Karui's sword, which clashed and sparked against a clear, glass-like dome around the Hyuuga. His left hand rested against her sternum, the source of the alien and powerful current that held her entire body captive. She strained, but couldn't even manage to unclench her half-cocked fist.

"That's enough," he said quietly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karui demanded, "Showing your techniques to this... outsider?" There was outrage in those words and something more._ Betrayal?_ When Neji didn't answer, the redhead vocalized her anguish as a shriek and drew the sword back over her shoulder.

Neji's right arm slid easily around Sakura's waist as he turned. Her limp body fell against the curve of his as he continued the pivot, and the transparent shield around him flared into an azure maelstrom. When the world stopped spinning, Karui was sprawled out in the grass, her sword blown away by the force of the Hyuuga's movement.

Silence reigned over the clearing. Still paralyzed, Sakura could only watch Karui's amber eyes glare alternately at her and the implacable Hyuuga that held her. Neji didn't move, and her head dropped in defeat, the shadow of her mane hiding the tears that threatened to spill over.

"Fine, Neji," Karui whispered, her voice on the verge of breaking, "You win." Without bothering to pick up her discarded weapon, she fled the clearing.

Neji sighed and gently eased Sakura to the ground. The grass had been uprooted in a large circle, and there was a scorched line tracing back to where he had originally stood._ This is the power of a Hyuuga,_ she marveled, then, with a faint sense of irony,_ At least I got to see some of what he can do._ He picked up Karui's sword and sheathed it, strapping the ensemble to his back. His expression looked troubled, but only for an instant. By the time he took her back up in his arms, his face was a blank slate once more.

"You won't be able to move for a while," he said, his eyes returning to a calm silver, "I'm afraid I'm not as practiced in undoing its effects as I am at applying them." He crouched and propelled the two of them into the air, as though she weighed nothing.

"Where...?" she managed to query. Her tongue felt thick.

"To my residence," he answered, his thoughts elsewhere, "It's not far."

o

Neji's abode exhibited the same quiet opulence as his hotel suite. The outside was wholly unremarkable from the other houses in Kumo, save for the isolation. Inside, the furnishings were sleek and modern: all soft ivories and dark ebonies with clean lines and simple forms. He set her down gently into a plush armchair.

"This will feel a bit strange," he cautioned, his Byakugan glowing as he knelt before her. Before she could protest, he jabbed two fingers into the center of her chest.

Pins and needles swept over every inch of her skin as her body jolted back to life. She didn't know whether to giggle or scream at the pervasive, tingling sensation that left her no refuge from her own senses. Biting down hard on her lip, she felt around for anything to cling to. Her hands found Neji's wrist and shoulder, fastening tightly onto them. She focused on the warmth and solidity of his flesh, finding solace in his body while hers was being overwhelmed.

After what seemed like an eternity, the feeling began to fade, and she felt able to breathe once more. As the tension left her body, she became aware that she was all but hunched over Neji, her forehead a millimeter away from his. She recoiled back, startled by his proximity.

"Better?" he asked, his placid visage giving nothing away. She nodded, feeling foolish and unsure as to which of the two was owed an apology. Gingerly, she let go of him. He winced and loosened his right bracer. "You have quite a grip," he chuckled. Sakura flushed.

"I need to go retrieve your clothes," he said, already moving toward the door, "Make yourself at home. You can look around, if you like but there isn't much to see, I confess."

"So I take it I'm staying here tonight?" she asked, rising. Her body felt unnatural and off-balance, but she could at least move under her own power. He paused.

"If that's acceptable to you," he answered. Seeing no signs of objection from her, he left, closing the door behind him.

Now alone, Sakura turned her attention to the house itself. There was a strange, impersonal quality to the décor the Hyuuga had chosen. Though undoubtedly expensive, each room could have come straight out of a magazine. She walked around the breakfast counter into the marble kitchen. There were no photos, no art on the wall, nothing to tell her anything about the man who lived here.

The short hallway branched off into a bedroom, which was a near replica of his autumnal hotel suite. Adjacent to it was a bathroom, relatively modest and bland in comparison to the rest. It came with every amenity she could expect of a bathroom, yet it seemed more like a laundry list of items than anything else; the same sort of variety she found in his kitchen cupboards.

At the end of the hall was an even less remarkable room, and the last in the house. Bare walls greeted her when she opened the door, with the floor adorned only by a plain tatami mat. A sliding bamboo door with paper windows occupied the opposite end of the room, while a closet stood parallel to the entrance._ Is this the guest room?_

There was a noise behind her and she turned to see Neji emerge from the bedroom.

"Your clothes are in the closet," he said, "There is quite a selection, so I trust you'll find something satisfactory."

"This is your room?" she asked incredulously, indicating the empty bedroom behind her. He blinked and canted his head to one side curiously, as though it was not out of the ordinary to live in such a place.

"It is," he affirmed, "As I said, there isn't much to see."_ You can say that again._ He turned, heading in the direction of the living room. "I'm going to start preparing dinner. I imagine you'll be wanting to eat soon. Come join me when you're ready."

Sakura cast one more look into Neji's empty room before following him into the kitchen.

Feedback is appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The element clacked three times before igniting into a steady flower of blue flame. Neji lowered a pot of water onto it, and the hiss of the fire muffled immediately. He turned his attention to the basket in the sink, rinsing the chives in it meticulously, depositing them onto a cutting board when he finished.

"Anything I can do?" Sakura offered, rolling up her sleeves. There was still an uncomfortable ache in her joints every time she moved, but it seemed rude to have the Hyuuga do all the work. Neji blinked at her inquiry and reached up into one of the cabinets and withdrew a cast-iron frying pan.

"Can you brown the meat, then?" Neji requested. From the fridge, he produced a small packet of ground beef and set it beside the stove top. Almost without looking, he reached behind him and yanked a knife free of its block. It spun end over end into his other hand, and three deft cuts laid the packaging open. "You'll find the seasonings in the cupboard above you, to the right. Utensils are in the drawer in front of you," he said, turning back to the chives and dicing them with a robotic sort of precision, "Use them at your discretion."

The meat sizzled merrily as it hit the hot surface of the pan and the savory smell filled the air almost instantly. It was simultaneously such a soothing and unfamiliar experience to the medic, who rarely had the time for such domesticities. She pushed the meat back and forth with a wooden spatula, wondering what sort of flavors would be appropriate. It was almost comical. She knew which herbs could heal and which could kill, but had no idea of which would complement beef. Eventually, she decided on a conservative mixture of soy sauce, garlic powder, black pepper and sesame oil.

"You should add some starch as well, to thicken the juices," Neji advised, washing off the knife and wiping it clean. It slid back into its housing just as the pot began to boil, the lid clattering cheerfully against the lip. He set the lid aside, snapped a handful of dried noodles into the bubbling water and covered the pot again. Sakura dusted the starch into the pan, turning down the heat and stirring carefully to stop it from clumping up.

"Why is your room so empty?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence, otherwise occupied only by the steady _put put put_ of the simmering pot.

"I have no need for it to be as ostentatious as the rest of the domicile," he answered, glancing over at the living room, "The front rooms are in case I need to entertain guests."

"Do you?" A small smile crossed Neji's lips at her insistence.

"Rarely," he admitted, "You'd be the second." When she arched an eyebrow questioningly, he gave a little laugh and continued, "A is the only other one who visits."_ "He's just a tool," C replied nonchalantly. His words were coming more smoothly, now. "The Raikage thinks he's useful, that's all."_ Sakura frowned.

"Does he come around often?"

"Reasonably so," Neji said, "He seems to hold the impression that I need to socialize more."

"Like with Karui?"

"Indeed," Neji answered. He sighed when Sakura crossed her arms expectantly. "Karui is an old friend. She has not taken well to your arrival, nor have you gone out of your way to assuage her misgivings. I suppose I am guilty of the same."

"She's quite attractive," Sakura observed. Neji glanced askance at her.

"You have my blessings in courting her," the Hyuuga deadpanned, ignoring her implication. The medic waggled the spatula under his nose.

"You know what I mean."

"I do." Neji snapped the stove off and lifted the pot from the element, setting it in the sink to run cold water over the now-cooked noodles. He reached past Sakura to add a ring of sesame oil.

"I already put that in," Sakura said.

"Sesame oil should be added at the end," Neji said. His smile was not unkind. "Otherwise, it smokes away in the heat. Shall we eat, then?"

o

_Her seasonings complement the noodles commendably,_ Neji mused between Sakura's questions. The sound of her voice brought a warm hominess to his otherwise quiet residence, and he found himself enjoying the banter and discussion brought about by her queries.

"Are you and C competing?" That was one he hadn't expected.

"Competing?" he echoed.

"Yeah. The clothes, the meals..." Sakura tapped her chopsticks against her tidied plate, "It's a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

"My part of it is purely hospitality, I assure you. The remainder is coincidence, I suppose."_ And C's unabashed womanizing,_ he added mentally. "I try not to make a habit of engaging in competitions I cannot win."

"Especially ones that don't exist?" Sakura prodded mischievously.

"Indeed," Neji responded noncommittally. Curiosity got the better of Sakura in the lull that followed.

"What do you mean?" Neji didn't answer immediately, collecting the utensils and plates as he collated his thoughts.

"C, Karui and I were on the same team when we were younger," he said, depositing them into the sink, "While I garnered the favor of the Raikage, C was naturally better liked amongst everyone else." He flicked on the faucet. "You may have first claim to the shower, if you like." Sakura eyed him for a bit longer before wandering into the bathroom.

"I'll tell you when I'm done," she called out as the door closed. Not for the first time that day, Neji smiled. As he washed, careful not to wet his sleeves, his building rapport with Sakura came unbidden to the forefront of his thoughts. How long had it been since he had spoken so freely of his life? The lines were starting to blur between mission and person._"__There's more in life than what's 'of use,' Neji," A grunted, leaning back in his chair._

Neji frowned as he put the last dish on the drying rack. There was a feeling of foreboding in the air, one that had troubled him since his departure from Konohagakure. He wasn't sure how much time he had left, but the threat of invasion was always there, looming on the horizon. Yet, with Sakura, such problems seemed just a bit further away.

"All yours!" The shout distorted strangely as she opened the door midway through. He blinked, suddenly unsure of how much time he had spent in his own mind. Sakura's feet pattered wetly into the guest room, and the door clicked shut.

Shaking his head clear, Neji left the kitchen.

o

Lee stared numbly at his trembling hands. He had told Madara every detail, and the Hokage had summarily dismissed him without a second glance. The adrenaline rush had since faded, leaving him feeling hollow inside. He had just barely made it out of the Hokage tower before he had to sit down, both because of his injuries and the psychological toll of his near brush with death.

Part of him was relieved; relieved to be alive, but also relieved that he would not be the one to deal with the situation. He did not want Sakura to see the killing side of him, nor did he want to unleash his forbidden techniques to fight the Hyuuga with lethal intent. Yet, there was part of the martial artist that could not accept how things had turned out. He should have been the one to settle things once and for all with his own hands; man-to-man and face-to-face. The Hyuuga had fought hard for his beliefs, and deserved an honorable death – a warrior's death – not to be snuffed out while he slept.

There was a turbulent flap of massive wings behind him, and the waxing moon was briefly eclipsed by the silhouette of an enormous avian creature passing before it. He watched it pass overhead, scrutinizing the two figures on its back, the same two who had been present at the interrogation. Lee had caught a glimpse of them on his way out, but had been unable to identify them. He had never seen the pair before, whether on the battlefield or in the village._ Assassins from Madara's secret ranks?_ Neither had been physically remarkable; both were about the martial artist's height and weight. That made them all the more menacing. Madara's task force was spoken of only in hushed whispers and, while they were not as powerful as the Hokage, they were rumored to possess the most sinister of arts.

Why had Madara only sent two? The Hokage had far more than that in reserve, easily more than enough to overwhelm Kumogakure, if the main force was also mobilized. There was something deeper to the plot than he could see, but Lee had no idea what Madara's intentions might be. To make matters worse, he was sure the Hokage's eye would be on him, now more than ever. He would have no chance to find out, for fear of incurring the Hokage's wrath.

Lee hoped Sakura would be all right. For the moment, all he could do was sit and wait.

Feedback is appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Like an errant mote of flame, a firefly drifted through the open doors, alighting on Neji's outstretched finger. Outside, they moved in lazy pillars, winking and flickering like timid fairies in the quiet darkness of his garden. He enjoyed these times of tranquility, relishing them while he could. They could not last long.

A knock on the door startled his tiny guest, and it flew off to rejoin its group. He let his hand fall back into his lap.

"Come in," he said quietly. The door opened and Sakura took one step into his room, her hair still damp from her shower. "Good evening," he greeted, averting his eyes politely from the bronzed skin left exposed by her loosely tied bathrobe. She hesitated briefly, then sighed with irritation.

"Whatever technique you hit me with, I can't get rid of it," she said, her steely gaze belligerent, as though daring him to mock her predicament.

"I didn't imagine you could," Neji said coolly, rising, "It doesn't inflict physical harm, merely disrupts the flow of your energy with mine." He stood to one side. "If you'd like to sit, I can attempt to nullify the effects. It may take some time." The crease between Sakura's eyebrows lightened at his words and she brushed past him to kneel atop his neatly made bedroll. He knelt behind her, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders. Even through the plush fabric of the robe, he could feel the roiling of her disquieted constitution. She shivered as his fingers began to gently work out the tension in her muscles.

"So, what other techniques do you have in store?" Sakura asked, her eyes fluttering shut in appreciation of his work.

"A few rudimentary manipulations of what you've already seen," Neji replied, "As well as one which is somewhat of a work in progress." He hadn't intended to reveal so many of his abilities, ones he had kept secret from even those around him. Save for the Raikage, there were none who saw his techniques and lived to talk about them. It was small wonder, then, that Karui had been furious. Still, had he not intervened, she would have joined the swelling ranks of the dead. Perhaps with time to cool off, she would come to recognize that. He swayed back slightly, the displacement of air drawing a whiff of Sakura's strawberry scent to his attention. "How is that?"

The medic rolled her shoulders experimentally, then shook her head.

"It feels a bit better," she said, wincing, "But the deeper tissues are still affected." Neji frowned.

"The hem of your bathrobe is a bit thick. You might have to..."

"Take it off?" Sakura asked. Neji blinked, shocked by her bluntness.

"Yes," he said, after taking a moment to compose himself. Sakura shrugged and reached up to loosen the collar of her robe, rolling the fabric down below her shoulder blades. She folded her arms in front of her chest, only half clad now, to prevent the cover from slipping any further down.

He could see the fine hairs on the nape of her neck rise as his fingertips made tentative contact with her bare skin. The sight and the cool radiance of her body sent tingles humming through his nerves. He focused his attention on his task, feeling the tightened bundles of fiber give way to his ministrations. Despite her svelte form, the wrought iron of her musculature spoke volumes of her training regime. She gasped as the first pulses of his energy disseminated through his fingers, urging her own circulation into motion. A sympathetic tremor tickled at his spine.

"You still haven't asked me anything about Madara," Sakura said, her head lolling back ever so slightly as she relaxed.

"I suppose not," Neji agreed. The tips of her hair were cold against the back of his hands, leaving behind tiny droplets of water. "I thought it too early to begin such inquiries." He braced his fingers against her trapezii and began to run his thumbs in strong, steady motions along the line her of scapulae.

"That feels nice," Sakura murmured, "Those are fireflies, right? I've read about them, but I've never seen them this close before."

"Are there no fireflies where you live?"

"No," Sakura said regretfully, "There are only kikaichuu in Konoha–" there was an almost imperceptible hitch in her voice "–gakure."_ Konohagakure._ Neji closed his eyes in contemplative thought. The past two days had undoubtedly been an emotional roller coaster for Sakura, despite the unaffected mask she wore._ A mask she wears daily._ Neji wondered if she was even aware of it anymore. He had long since forgotten his. That was the life they had become resigned to, lives constantly in flux with no point of stability to cling to.

"Perhaps, then," Neji's words were out before he realized it, "When this is all over, you could stay here." Sakura's head snapped around, her lips parted with surprise. Neji kept his expression carefully neutral, fighting the heat that threatened to creep up from under his skin. They remained there, frozen in time, each challenging the other to look away. In those heartbeats, it was as though his eyes were opened for the first time: the stunning clarity of her emerald eyes, the exquisitely delicate lines of her nose and the luscious swell of her lips. How had such details escaped his vision before? Sakura broke the silence first.

"I... I'll think about it," she said softly. Neji felt a twitch at the corner of his mouth, but quashed it before it could surface. She turned back around and he could feel the pent-up strain begin to leave her body. He'd never noticed how soft her skin was before; it was as smooth and flawless as his finest silks. She had only been a mission objective before, but after the shock of truly looking at her, he could see everything. Sakura was nothing short of beautiful.

By the time she shrugged the bathrobe back over her shoulders, Neji's nerve endings were singing, and it took all of his formidable willpower to keep up his placid facade.

"I should go," she said, her eyes half hooded by her eyelashes, "I have a feeling tomorrow will be a big day." Neji's throat suddenly felt dry.

"Good night," he managed. She stood, her shapely thighs not quite fully covered by the bottom line of her robes, and retied the sash around her waist.

"Good night," Sakura murmured back. She paused at the threshold of his doorway, as though waiting for something, though Neji couldn't discern what. The window passed in silence, and then she was closing the door on her way out, leaving Neji alone again.

o

Omoi had once shown her the constellations. Karui tried to find them, but her heart just wasn't in it. She laid back with a sigh against the metal roofing of the Raikage tower, playing back the events of the day in her head._ That fucking medic,_ she scowled, but she'd said it too many times for it to retain its meaning.

"Karui?" The redhead didn't bother looking up; she already knew who it was. There was only one person who would be in the tower this late at night.

"Working late again, Mabui?" The assistant straightened out her outfit as she lifted herself over the edge of the roof. Karui suddenly felt guilty. Every time she found herself atop the roof, Mabui was always there to talk to her, despite how difficult she found the climb.

"Always am," Mabui nodded, putting on a pretty smile, "Where is your sword?"

"Eh," Karui grunted with a dismissive wave, "Left it behind. I don't really want to talk about it." Neji would have it. Despite his cold exterior, he was always doing little things like that to care for her, ever since they were teammates. She didn't have it in her to face him right now, though.

"I didn't think you would. You should be more careful, though," Mabui chided lightly, "This peace won't last forever."

"_You_ don't have a sword," Karui huffed. The assistant sat next to her carefully, her good-natured expression unaffected by the redhead's jab.

"No, that's true," Mabui agreed, "But I don't think I'd be able to fight back any better with one." Karui cringed inwardly. She'd hurt the assistant's feelings, even if it didn't show.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I'm just... in a bad mood." The excuse rang hollow, even in her own ears.

"You should learn to let go," Mabui said gently, shaking her head, "If no one forgives anyone else, violence only leads to more violence. There are no clean hands in war. That's the horrible thing about it; everyone loses."

"Maybe," Karui said, rather lamely._ Why can't I use words as easily as I use a sword?_ "Thanks for talking to me, Mabui. I should probably go home. Can you get down by yourself?"

"I think I can manage," the assistant said with a tinkling laugh. She squeezed Karui's shoulder sympathetically. "Don't feel so down, okay? Things may look bad now, but they'll get better soon."

"I hope so," Karui sighed._ Maybe Mabui is right,_ she thought,_ Maybe I should try to forgive the medic._ It was a better plan than sitting around feeling sorry for herself, anyway. Either way, she was sure she would have to confront the problem when she went to retrieve her sword.

Feedback is appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Sakura woke to the faint twitter of birds outside her window. Sunlight dappled her covers, playing off the golds and warming the browns. She sat up and stretched luxuriously. Her body moved easily; a good night's rest and Neji's touch had done wonders for it. An involuntary shiver scaled her spine as she remembered how the Hyuuga's hands had felt._ Best not to dwell on that,_ she shook her head. Sliding out of bed, she padded over to the closet, drawing it open.

Neji certainly had spared no expense when it came to her wardrobe. The clothes that hung before her were all of the finest make, and they all seemed in suspiciously good taste. She wondered how he had chosen them all. Next to them, C's pile of clothes seemed more than a bit lacking. Still, she was hesitant to wear such expensive fineries, and she felt better in combat gear, anyway. Hoping the Hyuuga wouldn't take her pragmatism as offense, she donned a Kumo uniform. She tied the green silk ribbon Neji had given her into her hair before leaving. It seemed out of place against the rest of her outfit, but she felt more comfortable with it on.

The living room and kitchen were empty, save for the smell of breakfast. A note, written in script so precise it could only be Neji's, was on the counter.

_Sakura,_

_I hope you slept well. Breakfast will be in the kitchen. I will be out in the garden._

_Neji Hyuuga_

She glanced over at the stovetop. There was a pot, there, and various condiments had been laid out in small dishes in neat formation next to the stove, along with a bowl and spoon clearly meant for her use. She lifted the lid to be greeted by the sight of bubbling congee. From the line above the edge, she could tell that Neji had already eaten._ I must have slept through him making this,_ she frowned. Bit by bit, the Hyuuga's presence was eroding away the guards she had erected around herself. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Filling her bowl and turning off the element, she wandered off into the hallway, toward Neji's room. It was empty, as expected. He had put the bedroll away, as well. She opened the back door and stepped out barefoot into the garden. The grass was soft underfoot, and the smell of tea plants soothing. There was the distant sound of running water, as well, one she had noticed last night, a sound that grew louder as she moved toward the back corner of the garden. The bamboo wall was cut clear, there, and formed into a series of arches. She walked through, bowl still in one hand.

The tunnel opened up into a picturesque clearing, dominated by a roaring waterfall, which foamed and crashed into a clear pool of water. She could just barely make out Neji's form amidst the froth, sitting stone-still atop a jutting rock, with water cascading all about him. His eyes flashed open at her approach and he exploded out of the cataract to land before her, trailing sparks behind him in glistening white arcs._ The water would conduct the electricity away from him,_ she deduced,_ This must be how he trains his stamina with that technique._

"Good morning," he said, rivulets of water still streaming down his bare chest. His body was pure art – flawless alabaster sculpted by a masterful hand – and it moved with a liquid grace, muscled like a panther, sleek and powerful. This was the body of an assassin, and she had seen with her own eyes what it could do.

"Good morning," she answered back. Her eyes found a strange mark on his right arm as he turned to pick up his shirt. His skin, otherwise unmarred, was covered in a fractal pattern of feathery red lines, running from his wrist all the way to his spine. She had only seen such a design once before in her life: on a civilian who had been unfortunate enough to be struck by lightning. He caught her curious regard.

"A mistake," he said with a pained grimace at the recollection, "The technique I'm developing is not without its risks, I'm afraid." He slipped his shirt on, the white fabric turning translucent as it stuck to his skin. "You should eat that, while it's still hot." Sakura frowned._ What kind of technique could cause injuries like that?_ She elected to save the question for later.

"How do you afford all this?" she asked, tipping her head toward the waterfall. She sat down on the largest, driest rock she could find and began spooning the congee methodically into her mouth. Another movement of her head invited Neji to sit with her.

"When I was younger," Neji said slowly, sitting down beside her, "The injustice in the world seemed overwhelming to me." Though his clothes were wet, she could feel his body heat radiating through them. It was comforting, in some ways, to have him be so easily near her. "I took on a series of S-rank solo missions, each more dangerous than the last, hoping they would help me end things, one way or another. To my dismay, I survived each one, and with no more answers than when I started. A was furious, of course, and tracked me down personally to stop my crusade, but, by then, I had amassed quite a fortune."

"Have you found any since then?" Sakura asked, "Of your answers, I mean." He turned to her, and their eyes locked.

"I..." Neji hesitated. That was unusual from the sure-footed Hyuuga._ Is he surprised by my question, or by his answer?_ she wondered. Those precious few seconds in which their eyes met always seemed to convey so much more meaning than their words ever could. This time, he broke contact first, looking as disconcerted as she'd ever seen him. "I think perhaps I have," he finished softly.

There was something there, in the fragility behind his strength, in the uncertainty behind his conviction. Something that called to her, and for one insane moment, her heart went out to him. She wanted to hold him close, breathe in the rainy scent of his skin, make him forget all that ailed him, and forget all that pained her. The medic clamped down hard on that urge, not even daring to think on why, lest her resolve fail her.

"I like the clothes you chose," she offered, clearing her throat. When she hazarded a glance at the Hyuuga, he had normalized again.

"That would be Mabui's contribution," he said. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We should go back inside. There are a few items of business that need to be taken care of, today."

Before she could answer, he'd already stood and started walking back.

o

_Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Karui cursed at herself as she stood outside Neji's door. She'd acted like a child the day before, and now she was going to have to face the consequences._ Well, might as well get it over with._ She bit her lip and knocked twice.

The door opened and she fought back a scowl._ Of course it would be her._

"Is Neji here?" she grunted, "I need my sword back."

"He's not here right now," Sakura said, "He went out looking for you, actually."_ Typical Neji,_ Karui sighed internally. She turned to leave. "Wait," the medic called out, emerging from the doorway, "I'll go with you."

"You don't have to," Karui responded automatically.

"Neji told me where he'd be going, if you came here first," Sakura said, "I was supposed to meet with him, anyway." The redhead sighed, out loud this time._ Well, not like I have any other choices._

"I was out of line yesterday," she said stiltedly, stubbornly refusing to look at the medic. "I haven't forgotten the things that you've done during the war, but I do understand why you did them. So, sorry." There. She'd said it.

"War is like that." It wasn't an excuse, nor was it vindication; merely fact. They were weapons, one and all, as deadly and unfeeling as the cruelest blade. Madara had changed many things, and effected unspeakable atrocities, but he had not changed the sad truth of their existence. Suddenly, Karui just felt tired. The anger, the vengeance, what was any of it good for?

"Being a shinobi was all I ever wanted," the redhead said suddenly, "I wanted to be tougher, faster and stronger than anyone else." The medic shot her an inquisitive look. "But sometimes, I wonder if there isn't something better out there than all this. Something not just worth dying for, but something worth living for. Y'know?" Karui felt confused by her own thoughts.

"I know," Sakura said, and her eyes looked far off, "I hope there is."

_Hope._ That was something good. Perhaps that was what she admired most about Neji. In the years she had known him, she had watched him grow from a vengeful boy to something more. Those calm, silver eyes of his were always looking out toward the horizon, searching for something her eyes could not see. It was something greater than what they had, something better, something she could never quite figure out. He was a man who lived for that ideal. If only she knew what it was.

The rest of the walk was spent in contemplative silence.

Feedback is appreciated.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Karui," Neji acknowledged. From behind the redhead's shoulder, Sakura jerked her head to the side and indicated with her eyes that she would wait elsewhere. The Hyuuga kept his visage neutral as she meandered off. He didn't know what turn of events could have caused the two to be walking together, but it was best to let such sleeping dogs lie. Karui took her sword as he offered it to her, looking instantly more at ease.

"Can we talk?" Karui asked, her grip on the scabbard tightening. She tended to do that when she was nervous.

"Certainly," Neji said. In the peripherals of his vision, he could see C saunter up to Sakura and tap her on the shoulder. A rare spike of irritation tensed in the muscles of his back, obscured by the loose fabric of his robes. Karui rolled her eyes at his answer, missing the entire exchange.

"Can we talk somewhere that isn't in the middle of the street?" she clarified. Resisting the desire to glance at Sakura, he nodded and followed the redhead into the nearest shop, which could only be described as a street vendor bar. Karui hopped up onto a stool and slapped down a few coins and bills onto the call bell. "Your darkest beer," she ordered brusquely, when the vendor came in.

Neji read the menu dubiously. Only Karui would choose an alcoholic establishment in the middle of the day. It offered the advantage of relative privacy – as much as the short curtain afforded, anyway – but the selection was less than ideal.

"Water is fine," he said politely. The vendor gave him a strange look, but poured him a glass of questionable sanitation before heading out back again, leaving the two alone. "What is it that you wished to discuss?" he asked. Karui drained half of her mug in one breath.

"What is it that you're looking for?" the redhead asked, setting her drink down with a heavy _thunk_.

"In what context?" Neji kept his response ambiguous. This was a conversation he'd foreseen a long time ago. It had only been a matter of time before Karui tipped past her emotional limit, and it seemed the events of yesterday had sped such an event along.

"In life. In people." He hadn't expected this angle. Karui had always been the direct sort, with neither the practice nor patience to spin elaborate webs of rhetoric. His silence spanned an instant too long; the redhead glared sharply at him and blurted, "What does _she_ have that I don't?"

"This is an unbecoming topic," Neji answered flatly, "If your implication is that Sakura and I have initiated a romantic liaison, I can assure you that your suspicions are unfounded." Karui snorted, but his words had taken the edge away from her amber eyes.

"I don't get you, Neji," Karui exhaled. She swirled her mug around, but it seemed to have lost its appeal to her. The redhead laughed suddenly as she stared into the dark liquid, looking close to tears._ Relief and alcohol are a potent combination,_ Neji observed. "What's a girl to do when she falls for a guy like you?" she asked helplessly, "How can you sit there, so close, but be so far out of reach? If I touched you, would you even feel it?"

"Karui." There was no answer he could conceivably give that would satisfy her. "You are one of my oldest friends, and while I wish it were otherwise, there is no assistance I can offer you in this matter." He stood. "My sincere apologies for the inconvenience, but this is not a discussion I am prepared to carry out."

Karui followed him out of the stand, catching his shoulder before he made it more than two paces out.

"Don't you feel any of what I feel for you?" she asked, her eyes pleading. A purple butterfly fluttered lazily on the breeze toward her. It was a surreal image. He turned to face her fully.

"Is that a line of inquiry you truly wish to pursue?" he asked quietly.

o

Sakura's attention wandered from the blond's words as she caught sight of the butterfly._ Kumo has an interesting insect population,_ she mused, watching it float fearlessly through pedestrians of the busy street. The medic didn't particularly appreciate the way C was trying to back her against the wall, but it afforded her a relatively unobstructed view of her surroundings, particularly the stand into which Neji and Karui had disappeared. She nodded absently when C paused, which seemed to be good enough for him to carry on with his chatter.

_I wonder what they're talking about._ She held back a sigh of relief as she saw Neji stand and brush the curtain aside. Eventually, the blond would have tried to make a real move on her, and she was loathe to break someone's wrist, only to have to heal it immediately. She saw the Hyuuga turn back again. He was not happy; she could tell that much from the slightly more rigid than normal expression on his face. The medic couldn't hear what he had said, but it clearly wasn't to the redhead's liking. Karui's teeth flashed as she gesticulated angrily, swiping the butterfly out of the air.

It exploded into a mess of black fluid and purple dust, engulfing the redhead. The Hyuuga acted first, his arm shooting out to drag her out of the cloud. She went limp against him, a mixture of blood and froth already forming on her lips. A wave of panicked screams heralded the rapid arrival of two enormous hawks, each with a dark-clad rider, flying in formation toward the Hyuuga. She brushed C aside as she leaped, sailing over the civilians trying to get out of the way of their attack run.

The first raked Neji's glass shield with its talons, skidding off and back up into the air from the reflected momentum as the other veered around behind the beleaguered Hyuuga. Still off-balance from the impact, he ripped his shirt away, still covered in toxic motes, and hurled it at the incoming hawk, which banked away sharply to evade.

Neji's eyes flashed white and his body ignited into the brightness of his lightning armor, accompanied by a peculiar puff of smoke. He had burned something away, and that something became clear as the medic neared him.

The redhead was covered in a writhing mass of insects, too small to see individually. A flash of electricity from Neji's hand jolted Karui's body and withered them. The redhead was ashen, and her capillaries stood out prominently against her now-pale skin, tinged with purple venom. It was the same venom that now tinted Neji's fingertips.

"Cover me," the medic said, working to extract the toxin. Karui was still breathing – that was a good sign – but she was working against a fast-acting agent and against the clock._ How much of it is in the Hyuuga's veins?_ There was no time to move the stricken redhead; they would be pinned down until her condition was stabilized.

Neji hurled a bolt of lightning at the next pass, deterring it for a moment longer._ They're trying to wear him down,_ Sakura realized. The sickly coloration of his blood vessels had already extended through the body of his right glove and above his bracer, and it would only get worse. Evidently, he had come to the same realization, as he kicked Karui's sword up, drawing it as it rose and lunging to intercept the attacking hawk, all in the blink of an eye.

The keen blade sheered off its target's wing and its rider leaped off. Neji's sudden offense had been too fast for him to dodge, but he had reacted early enough to set his downward course toward the medic. He passed the Hyuuga in midair as his crippled steed melted into an inky liquid, blocking Neji from Sakura's sight. His face was obscured by a black mask, but the grim set of his mouth and the short sword he unsheathed as he descended made his intentions abundantly clear.

Sunlight shone through a hole in the black cloud, blasted through by a shock wave of solid air. It caught the man square in the back, slamming him into the ground. Neji landed an instant later, and was on him before the first drops of ink fell to earth, his Byakugan blazing. The man scrambled to his feet, just barely parrying. His guard was smashed open by the ferocity of the Hyuuga's strike, and the tip of Neji's sword opened a gash in his shoulder.

Blood, purple and swarming with the same microscopic insects, sprayed into the air, splattering against Neji's hard-light barrier. The creatures began to chew, only stopping when a burst of lightning turned them to ash.

"They live in my entire body," the host said, his voice flat and cold. He sheathed his weapon and pulled off his gloves to reveal hands cloaked in a chittering coat of the insects. "You'll find attacking me to be most hazardous." He cast a look over his shoulder, past Sakura, to his airborne companion who was bearing down on her, his mount's talons extended. The host's goggles glinted dully, matte white and expressionless, as he turned back to the Hyuuga. "But it seems you have little choice."

Feedback is appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Neji's right arm screamed with acidic torment. He could feel the venom taking deadly effect, eroding away his cells. More worrying, though, was the numbness that followed its progress, deadening the flow of his energies. His vision flickered between the transparent omniscience of the Byakugan and the opacity of the normal world.

The sword slipped through his senseless fingers. He knew that he had only enough strength for one last assault. If he used it on the host, though, his partner would be left unchecked. What could he do? He needed some kind of distraction, but what?_ Think... think!_ The hawk folded its wings, streaking downward at Sakura.

"Mine!" C called out, vaulting from a nearby rooftop into the trajectory of the attacking pair. He slammed bodily into the rider, locking his arms around the rider's throat and yanking up. The hawk screeched in sympathetic shock and pulled up sharply, blasting just over Sakura's head before careening wildly through a large shop window.

That was all the opportunity the Hyuuga needed.

His lightning armor collapsed into his body, suffusing his muscles with wild power, and he kicked off the ground. The world became a blur of streaks and color for an instant. His left foot hit earth with a jarring recoil while his other lanced out into the back of the host's shoulder. He could see the the arm fall limp, feel the bones grind to pieces, hear the meaty pop of tendons ripping.

The impact sent them flying in opposite directions. Neji grabbed at the world as it tumbled by, somehow managing to find enough purchase to cease his bouncing roll. He skidded to a halt directly in front of Sakura. His bones shook, his knees felt like jelly, and he could scarcely rise from the crouch he had landed in. The Hyuuga's right arm had lost all feeling, now, hanging uselessly before him. He tried his best to appear strong, knowing that he had nothing left._ Don't get up,_ he prayed,_ Don't get up._

The host stirred.

o

From the way the host was struggling to breathe, the medic could tell that the concussive force of the Hyuuga's kick had ruptured one of his lungs. His extraordinary willpower had been enough to draw him to his feet, but there was nothing more that he could possibly do. For all intent and purposes, he had been neutralized. But Neji hadn't made any attempts finish the engagement, either. Was he waiting for something, or too exhausted to move?

The feathery marks on his back smoldered white, but that glow was fast fading, leaving only inflamed tissue and blackened skin._ That must have been the technique he was working on,_ she realized, _Using the electricity of his other technique to supercharge his body._ She had assumed that it would be dangerous; she hadn't guessed that it would be outright suicidal._ Did he push himself this far to protect me?_

"Not bad, Hyuuga." The host coughed. Blood flecked the ground. "Don't look so surprised," he continued, wiping at the edge of his mouth with his good arm, "You're not the only one with eyes on the inside. The Hokage remembers your promise, and he's been watching."

_Lee._ It clicked all at once in her head._ Of course. Why else would he have spoken to me?_ She suddenly felt foolish for ever thinking that the martial artist had simply appreciated her company. That was why Lee had been left alive, and encouraged her to continue the pursuit alone. It had all been according to plan. In the end, they were both just pawns in the Hyuuga's game.

"She's stable," the medic announced quietly, pushing those thoughts away. She could deal with them later; in this situation, she had to be in the here and now. The host saw her subtle shift away from the redhead.

"The Hokage sends his regards, medic," he called out, his shoulders quivering with unexpressed pain, "Since it seems you've changed allegiances, I believe it is time I take my leave. The Hokage will be most interested to hear of your progress as well, Hyuuga."

As though on cue, a new bird burst out of the shop window, this one both sleeker and faster than its predecessors. The Hyuuga didn't budge as it passed overhead, picking the host up in its grasp and heading toward the walls.

"Throw me," Neji said. His voice was softer than usual, tenser._ He can't catch the bird himself,_ she realized. It must have been an inhuman effort for him to simply remain vertical. "Hurry," he urged through gritted teeth, holding out his left arm. It trembled with exertion. His face was hidden in the shadow of his hair, but she could see his right eye was shot through with violet spiderwebs, and its silver had tarnished. He needed medical attention urgently. But with the host's mount rapidly gaining height, what other options did they have?

Clasping his hand in both of hers, she whirled him around once, her muscles straining to their limit, and let him fly.

o

Neji's body ached down to the very bones. His muscles felt swollen, sour with fatigue, and were on the verge of giving out. He heard the host speak, but he could barely comprehend the dull reverberations. Sakura would know who his inside contact was now; she was more than smart enough to figure that one out. He tried to calculate a way to mitigate that damage, but his mind felt foggy. The toxin was killing him, just as it had snuffed out the vision in his right eye.

When he saw the host go airborne, he knew that he had to stop him. If his trump card was made known to Madara, all hope was lost. Catching him on foot would be a challenge in ideal conditions; now, it was all but impossible.

"Throw me. Hurry."

His left arm still functioned. That was good news. All he had to do was dislodge the host from the bird's talons; from the way the host hung limply in its hold, the Hyuuga knew that there was no fight left in him. The birds were under his partner's control. He wouldn't be able to dodge. It was well within the realm of the doable._ Just a little more,_ he told himself,_ Just a little more and then I can rest._

Sakura took his outstretched hand, and he closed his eyes as the world's paints ran together. The air felt cool on his flushed skin, and his leaden body was suddenly weightless. His eyes opened to the sight of the host growing larger in his field of vision, and drawing a knife with his good hand.

"I'll see you in Hell," the host smirked. He turned the knife inward and cut through his own flesh, carving a brutal swath that opened his torso up from shoulder to opposite hip. His innards burst forth, filling the air with a thick spray of his blood, infested with millions of insects. Neji had no time to do anything before he was swallowed up by the purple miasma.

o

Sakura watched in horror as Neji was engulfed in the pestilential cloud. His spent body impacted the host's, jarring it loose, and they both plummeted earthbound._ The impact will kill him!_ her mind screamed. She started toward him, but her body felt sluggish, unresponsive, as though she were running in a dream._ Used too much healing,_ she realized,_ Too far away!_ She cast about herself desperately for anything that could help, knowing that she wouldn't make it in time.

But she had to try.

Each step was like molasses, each second like a curse. If only she'd finished that technique. If only...

Sakura stumbled as something huge scorched past her shoulder, leaving the acrid scent of electricity in its wake. She only saw a flash of white and brown, but she had seen that sight before, and knew what it was. Who it was._ The Raikage!_

A slammed to a stop beneath Neji's falling arc, his lightning armor winking out. He knew how badly hurt Neji was at a glance, and wasn't willing to risk endangering him with the ambient power. The Hyuuga landed safely in his arms, but he couldn't avoid the lethal shower of blood that followed. Seconds later, the host followed, his body bursting against the ground like an overripe fruit. Already, the Raikage's skin was beginning to show telltale signs of the insects' taint, signs that grew more dire by the second.

"Lord Raikage!" C cried out in a panic, scrambling over the remains of the ruined window. Broken glass crunched under his feet. The blond was bleeding profusely from several lacerations, but they were mostly superficial. He would live.

A ignored him, meeting the medic unflinchingly, with Neji cradled in his arms like a sleeping child. His pale hair was soaked with purple, and his face bore the grim determination of a man barely hanging on to consciousness, yet he did so. If the venom had done this much to someone as robust as the Raikage, what sort of condition could the already-poisoned Hyuuga be in?

"Save him," he pleaded.

Feedback is appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"_You will not touch Ms. Sakura," the martial artist wheezed, his hand scratching weakly at the dust. Neji looked down at him, surprised he was still breathing._ So, the medic's name is Sakura._ Didn't he already know that? It was hardly useful to his objective, but he did make a point of knowing his targets' names. The day he no longer cared would be the day he truly became a killer. Or had that already happened? The Hyuuga moved to step past, and the fallen martial artist grabbed his ankle._ Fool.

_Neji grabbed the martial artist by the collar and lifted him up to meet the iron rebuke of his palm. Blood fountained from his broken nose, and he fell back to the earth, gagging on his pain._

"_This war has gone on long enough. I will add you to the list of casualties if you insist on impeding my mission."_

"_Killing her will only make it worse," the martial artist blurted, "Madara's planning to pull out, but if you kill Ms. Sakura, he won't rest until Kumogakure is ashes." The medic's tent was a stone's throw away. In a minute, the backbone of Konohagakure's staying power could be broken in his hands._ Is he telling the truth?_ then,_ What attachment does he have to the medic?

"_She is a key target. The medic lives by the forfeiture of Kumogakure lives."_

"_I can help you. I can report on Konoha's movements. I can even deliver her to you. Just don't... hurt her." There was an abundance of desperation in those eyes, but no deceit._ Eyes. Deceit._ There was someone he couldn't trust. Who was it?_

"_Very well, th..." Was it dawn already? The ground left his feet, and he floated up, and up, and up._

Neji's eyes blinked open to Mabui's startled cerulean ones, and she jerked away, looking flustered.

"You're awake," she stammered, fidgeting nervously with her clipboard. Neji tried to speak, but his throat felt dry, stuck. He settled for nodding, and shifted in his hospital bed, sliding out from the sheets until his bare feet met the cold tile. It was a shocking contrast to the warm fuzziness that pervaded his mind, and the rest of his body. He felt strangely heavy. "I don't think you should be getting up, yet," Mabui said hesitantly.

She was right. When he pushed away from the bed, he nearly fell over, saved from an undignified collapse only by the assistant's support.

"Easy," she admonished, "Sakura should be coming back, soon, so just..."

The door swung open and the medic strode in, her expression shifting rapidly from irritation to surprise as she looked in turn from Neji to Mabui, then back to Neji.

"You're awake," she noted. Then, with a curious tilt of her head, "Mabui, was it? I didn't know you were here." The assistant blanched.

"Oh, I was just... leaving..." Mabui mumbled, her face nearly as pale as her hair, likely from mortification, before hurrying out. Sakura watched her go quizzically.

"How," Neji tried out his voice experimentally. It sounded foreign, but at least it worked. "How is Karui?" He recalled her being stabilized, but the memories seemed incredibly distant. Bit by bit, though, they were coming back together. The Hyuuga reached one hand up tentatively before his right eye._ Good._ That worked, as well.

"She's fine," Sakura sighed, "It's the Raikage I worry about. They won't let me near him, so it's up to C to treat him."_ A is injured?_ Neji frowned. When had that happened? Still, C's track record showed him to be more than capable as a medic, and if Mabui was here, then it meant that A was in no danger. Sakura's exclusion was understandable. The majority of Kumogakure would still perceive her as a foreigner, from the enemy's side, at that. He wanted to inquire further about what had transpired since he had lost consciousness, but Sakura seemed troubled by some unknown line of thought.

She leaned against the windowsill. The shades were drawn, but light showed through in thin bars to cast her shadow on Neji's bed. It was the only one in the room, and they were very much alone.

"It was Lee all along, then?" she asked. He winced internally at the bluntness of the question, but nodded a confirmation. There was little use in denying it, at this point. She turned her head away from him, the silhouette of her nose visible in the backlighting. "I see," she said. Was that disappointment he heard? "How did you do it? Money?"

"You misunderstand," Neji said quietly, folding his hands in his lap, "The price of his cooperation was your life." Shock parted her lips, and for a moment, she was a flawless shadow puppet. He already knew what questions his admission had elicited. It would be better if she was freely given the truth, or so he hoped. "Shortly before the end of the Kumogakure-Konohagakure war, the situation had become quite bleak for us. We kept up a strong facade, but our bravado was baseless. To break the siege, I was assigned the task of eliminating the shinobi responsible for keeping the Konohagakure forces in fighting form."

"Me," Sakura breathed, her eyelashes fluttering. Neji nodded slightly.

"Lee tried to stop me. When that failed, he offered me his services. His only condition was that you remain unharmed." He turned to her, though the shadows and her stillness rendered her emotions inscrutable. "He cares for you far more than you know."

"And you?" Neji froze, half from surprise and half from something he couldn't quite place: a panicked fluttering in his stomach.

"I'm afraid I don't follow your intention," he said. It was a lie, if only a small one, which he hoped would buy him sufficient time to piece his suddenly scattered thoughts together into some semblance of coherence.

"You risked your life to save mine. Why?"

"I..." He what? There had been no logic in his actions. It had simply been an imperative, that he had to protect her, at any cost. "Made a promise." That was a larger lie. His promise to Lee wasn't what impelled him to such lengths. Retrospection turned him into a fool. "No, I... I don't know," he amended honestly, "It struck me as the right thing to do." That was closer to the truth, albeit incomplete in nature. Still, how could he explain his true motivations to her when he couldn't even explain them to himself?

Sakura folded her arms and bowed her head in thought. He tried to do the same. Had he gone too far in humanizing the medic? What implications did this bear for his ultimate goal?_ The ultimate goal of killing,_ he thought, with a pang of remorse. How close had his hands come to being colored with the red of Sakura's blood? He stared at them, as though they belonged to someone else. They were so indelibly stained with the lives of others, people who had family, friends and lovers. All things he lacked. What sort of life could he hope to lead if he managed to fulfill the obsession that had caused him to neglect everything else?

"What are you going to do when all this is over?" she asked abruptly. For a moment, he entertained the crazed notion that she had managed to tap into his brain during the procedure. "You offered..." she hesitated, "To let me stay here, but you've never given any indication of what you're going to do. Are you going to tend to your tea plants–" the jest was spoken without enthusiasm "–or will you remain an assassin?"

"I find no joy in being an assassin," he answered. He believed that now, more than ever before. It was one of the last remaining shreds of humanity he clung to. "I apologize," he sighed, "But I have no definite answer for you, again."

"Then promise me something," she said. He looked up curiously, as she jerked the blinds open. His unaccustomed eyes stung from the light, but he didn't flinch. The fiery glow of the setting sun ignited the the highlights in her hair, and the dust motes swirling around her became a yellow-orange corona._ Radiant._ She sat on the edge of his bed, her emerald eyes incandescent with intensity, kaleidoscopic mirrors of the thousands of pinpoints of light that wreathed her. "Promise me that Madara's death will be the last. Promise me that you'll find something more in life."

His mouth felt dry, and his pulse accelerated when her fingertips touched his chest, in spite of his efforts to control its pace._ Is she probing to determine if I'm lying?_ He swallowed hard. His heart had provided the answer before his brain could fathom the question.

"I promise."

It was as though a heavy pall had been lifted from his shoulders, banished by the bright hope in his breast. Long ago, he had held an ideal there, a wish for freedom that had dwindled to embers. They were rekindled, now, flooding him with renewed conviction. His life would be more than that of an avenger; he would survive, and he would live.

Sakura nodded, and her hand fell away reluctantly._ Or is the reluctance mine?_ She closed her eyes momentarily, and took a sharp breath to steady her nerves.

"I've found the flaw in your technique."

Feedback is appreciated.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Yugito Nii massaged her temples with a long-suffering sigh. The kunoichi had agreed to stay within the confines of the fortress atop the Island Turtle "for her own safety." She hadn't agreed to share a house with Killer B. Day in and day out, she'd endured him spouting his "musical" drivel, hoping that he would tire of it, but she'd vastly underestimated his capacity for inanity. If he rhymed a word with itself one more time, she was sure she'd lose her mind.

"I'm going out," she announced without warning, standing up fast enough to topple her chair over. She righted it with a deft stomp on one of the legs, kicking it back under the table, and was out the door before another verse could start up. The tailed beast inside her purred as the sunlight caressed her skin, and the mutually felt ripple of pleasure was almost enough to stop her from slamming the door behind her. Almost.

Mercifully, the only music to be heard outside was the lyrical chirping of songbirds, and she sat to listen to it for a while longer. It didn't suit her, though, all this peace and quiet. She would rather be with her people, protecting her home; hell, high water and Madara be damned. What use was she out here? If Kumo were to be attacked, she'd only find out come the next weekly report, assuming anyone was left alive to send it. Daily updates were evidently liable to "compromise the confidentiality of her location." Yugito snorted.

She hoped Karui was doing well. The poor girl meant well, but her abrasive manner and atrocious luck made for a disastrous combination. To top it all off, she had chosen Neji Hyuuga, of all people, to take a shine to. Yugito shook her head. She hadn't spoken much to the Hyuuga – hell, who else but A had? – but his eerie eyes and aloof way of speaking had rubbed her the wrong way right from the start. He had never given her reason to outright distrust him, but the way he skulked about between his reclusive hideaway of a house and secret training grounds was certainly suspicious.

Yugito pulled the latest report from her pocket. The ink was smeared to the point of illegibility, but she'd already read it enough to have committed the entirety of it to memory. There was a severe lack of things to do so far from Kumo. She tried to make out the words in an attempt to engage herself, but her eyes kept skipping ahead, and it wasn't long before she gave up the effort.

The kunoichi exhaled. Surely, it wouldn't hurt to pay a brief visit back to the village. It would give her an excuse to be away from Killer B, and she could check up on a few things. There was a plethora of birds to be had from that one stone.

She stood, brushing grass off of her pants. Yes, that was what she would do. What could A realistically do to her, anyway? The worst he could do would be to send her back. Hell, being stuck here _was_ the worst punishment she could think of; virtually anything would be an improvement from her current situation. Yugito nodded an affirmation to herself and turned to open the door, her packing list and itinerary already taking shape in her mind.

There was a scream of alarm in her head as her tailed beast cried out a warning. A flash, the shattering of windows, and the house exploded in a storm of wooden shrapnel and fire.

o

"The power you circulate when you use that technique is too much for your body to handle." Neji knew that much. "It short circuits through the weakest part of you, which is where you're getting the markings. Each time you use it, it weakens those areas further." He nodded. "I can... modify it so that the energy bleeds off, dissipates, instead of burning you up."

"Modify it?" he echoed, arching an inquisitive eyebrow. She couldn't possibly mean his technique. That would take months of study, if such a thing were even possible. So then...?

"Your body," she clarified, her expression unchanging. He had never heard of such medical prowess. "It'll drain you faster when you use it," she continued, her tone clinical, "Since you're not retaining the energy as efficiently. Your endurance training should offset that, as long as you're careful. Other than that, the differences in everyday life will be imperceptible."

"I see," Neji said softly. He rolled up his right sleeve, to be greeted by the sight of unblemished skin. The medic's healing was every bit as adroit as the rumors had made it out to be. "I assume you'd have conditions for undertaking such an operation?"

"I did," she said, "However, you've already answered my questions, and it's already done." He blinked. Certainly, he had found her impromptu interrogation somewhat suspect, but he hadn't fathomed the purpose behind it all. "I had to do it to clear out the venom and the lingering electricity at the same time to save you." A quick, humorless smile. "You were quite far gone. The Raikage had to donate a portion of his energy just to keep you alive. Your body will take a few days to adjust to the new wiring, so you won't be able to muster anything more than the average civilian."

"You've already done it," he echoed, his head spinning with all the new information. She was already going through the cabinet, gathering up the remainder of his clothing. "I assume that if I had answered incorrectly you–"

"–would have finished you off," she shrugged, "I'm glad it didn't come to that. Would have made a waste of an entire afternoon of work." The entire exchange had kept the Hyuuga on his heels, a feeling he was entirely unaccustomed to. She tossed her fuchsia tresses away from her face as she straightened and held out a hand to him. "We should go. It's not safe for you here."_ Madara's spy._ He had almost forgotten._ How ironic,_ Neji mused,_ That the only person I can fully trust is from Konohagakure._

"Where do you plan on going?" he asked, his hand slipping easily into hers as she pulled him to his feet. It felt comfortable, there, the sort of comfort that sent an irresistible shiver down the entire length of his arm.

"Home, of course," she said with a faint smile.

o

Sakura had called it home simply because she didn't have a better way to describe it succinctly. Still, when she closed the door and breathed in the familiar smell, it seemed to be a bit cozier than she had remembered it. Did her apartment in Konohagakure ever have that same effect? Perhaps it had been Neji's offer of residence. She hazarded a look at the Hyuuga, who appeared to be lost in his own cloud of thoughts.

"I regret that we could not have met under more favorable circumstances," he said, his gaze meeting hers. "You have many qualities that cannot be captured in a simple report, all of which I'd rather have discovered in person." He frowned, looking as confused as she felt. "I owe you a great deal," he finished quietly, "I apologize for the transgressions I have committed against you."

"Are there any more?" she asked, more curtly than she'd intended. He shook his head wordlessly, his eyes ever so slightly downcast. She bit her lip, suddenly regretting her words._ Damn that Hyuuga._ What was going on with him, anyway? His serene air used to calm her, but she felt a tense undercurrent beneath those still waters, one that had become more insistent as the days passed, sometimes threatening to drown her.

She didn't hate him. Despite all that he'd done, she only felt... what was the word? Angry? Yes, she was angry at him. At the way he had built up a bridge between them, only to smash it again with some new revelation. At the way she had let this happen over and over again. At the way he let it all pass through him, untouched by the things that so deeply touched her. But that didn't seem right, either. Little by little, she was learning to read into the poise of his frame, the jump of his pulse, and the luster of his eyes. He wasn't emotionless, just all too practiced at acting that way.

"You don't have to hide things from me," she said softly. His eyes snapped up to hers with a start. "We're going to have to watch out for each other, as long as we don't know who the spy is. That means you're going to have to trust me and," she hesitated, "And I'm going to have to trust you."_ Just one more time,_ she told herself,_ One last chance._

Neji nodded, and there was no mistaking the warmth behind the slight curve of his lips.

Feedback is appreciated.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The doorknob clicked, drawing the redhead out of her thoughts and the heavy hospital door swung open. Mabui stood in the doorway, her hands clasped demurely in front of herself as she walked out, passing between the two masked guards who stood like grotesques outside A's room.

"You can see him, now," the assistant said. Karui stood, her limbs still feeling a bit heavy, and entered the unit. Mabui closed the door behind her, leaving the redhead alone in the room with the Raikage and C. She'd only seen A unconscious once, and that had been from the tedium of a particularly large load of paperwork. Those had been better days, long forgotten since Madara's rise to power.

"How is he?" Karui asked. The blond looked up from his seat at the Raikage's bedside. He hadn't rested since the attack; that much was clear from the rounded slump of his shoulders. His own injuries had hardly been tended to, still only dressed with the rough bandages out of his field kit.

"He's stable," he said after a moment, "The toxin has been metabolized, but there's some kind of anesthetic that's still there."

"So, what does that mean?" Karui scowled. Medicine or biology or whatever it was they were dealing with, had never been her strong suit. "Can't he metabolize that, or something?"

"No," C sighed. A shadow formed between his eyebrows, to match the ones under his eyes, "It's almost medical in quality." He glanced at her, recognizing that she hadn't understood. "It can't be broken down so easily. He'll be okay, but he's not going to wake up until I can get rid of it." A pause. "I think I'm going to have to ask..." He didn't finish his thought, but there was no need for it. There was only one person in Kumo he could be talking about.

Karui felt a twinge of sympathy for him. All his life, he'd yearned for the Raikage's attention, only to find himself in Neji's shadow over and over again. Now, he found himself outclassed in his area of expertise by an outsider once more._ Really, if he weren't such a jerkoff, I'd almost feel sorry for him._ He had that look in his eyes, the one he'd always had when they were younger, as he was picking himself up out of the dirt after yet another spar with the Hyuuga.

"Mabui's not going to like it," C said with a wry smile, "Against regulation, and all that. She only just let you in." Karui made a noise in her throat, halfway between a growl and a snort._ Typical Mabui,_ she rolled her eyes. Still, it was hard to hold it against the timid assistant. There was never any doubt that she'd always held Kumo's best interests in mind.

"Fuck all good regulations are gonna do us now," Karui grunted. She gave the blond a solid thump on the shoulder, nearly dislodging him from his chair. It was as much comfort as she was going to give him. "I'll cover for you. Go get some rest and do what you gotta do."

"Thanks, Karui," C said quietly, "I appreciate it."

She waited until he had gone to take his place beside A's bed, resting her hand on his calloused one. It was eerie, seeing him laid out unmoving. She expected him to jump up at any moment to scold her for the frown she wore, or make for the nearest window to escape Mabui's insistences. For now, though, she could only hope for the best.

o

_Focus. Stillness._ The blade of grass swayed a moment longer in the breeze, then stopped, frozen by Sakura's serenity. She remained unmoving herself, turning her attention to the next one. The medic could feel every minute spark of her nerves, every tiny pulse of her blood. She narrowed her focus, and the bright lines of her power grew brighter still, concentrating into thin strands of brilliance._ Focus. Stillne–_

A cough shattered her trance and she struggled to grasp the fast-unraveling strands of energy, but to no avail. She looked up, irritation already showing on her expression.

The Hyuuga hadn't moved. Beside his sitting form stood C, looking abashed under her glare.

"Sorry to interrupt," he bowed his head, looking appropriately apologetic, "Can we talk?"

Neji closed his eyes; a silent signal not to look at him. Only the two of them knew about his current condition, and it was likely wise to keep it confidential. He stood, looking as poised and graceful ever, and walked out of the training ground, passing like a vision between the bamboo stalks until he was out of sight.

"Have you had dinner?" C asked. "I haven't," he followed, before she could respond, "And I'm afraid it's a bit of a delicate matter, so... might take a while."

"All right," she agreed at length. She hadn't had the chance to eat, either, occupied by the development of her technique._ No more excuses,_ she had resolved,_ No more regrets._ There was too much at stake to be unprepared. C beamed a smile at her, aglow through the fog of his fatigue, and set off in a separate direction from where Neji had disappeared. Sakura's gaze lingered for a moment longer before she followed.

"I, um, got something to eat already," C said, looking apprehensive and relieved at the same time, "Due to the nature of what I need to ask um... I mean... if you wouldn't mind, is it all right if we eat back at my place?" Sakura raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I promise I won't try anything stupid." C's words came out all in a rush. "Really, I just... want to talk."

Sakura nodded and he started off again, occasionally casting surreptitious glances back over his shoulder to make sure that she hadn't changed her mind. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about, it was obviously something rather important._ The Raikage,_ she thought. Yet, there was a lack of urgency in his actions. What was going on, then?

C's home was an apartment on the third story of a chic complex. It was a quietly decorated pastiche of fawns and sepias, with plush, fabric couches and a solid, oaken coffee table. Though it was neither as fastidiously kept nor as meticulously envisioned as Neji's, C's living room simply looked lived in. There was a medical manual laid open on his table – Sakura recognized it from her own reading – and a paper bag of food, somewhat moist from the condensation or oil inside. Beside it was a slightly weathered and stained report._ Smuggled out from the hospital._ She glanced at C, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Mabui isn't a fan of us taking papers home," he said, looking somewhat pleased with himself, "Part of why I got the food, really. I mean, it's just cafeteria food, but I hope it's at least edible. The kitchen's a bit... messy, right now, and I don't have much in the way of a dining room. I usually just... eat on the couch." His expression briefly registered what appeared to be deep concern over his lack of proper facilities before he busied himself with digging through the bag. Sakura sat, accepting a box of food with a smile of appreciation. She took the report, as well, spreading it out as flatly as it would lie on her lap before beginning to eat, reading as she went.

"Here," she said, pointing out a chemical between bites of rice and stir-fried vegetables. It wasn't as hot as she'd become accustomed to, but far from the worst thing that she'd eaten. "This should be recorded under sedatives administered, as well." C shook his head.

"He's not being given anything apart from standard fluids," he said with a frown, "I assumed that that was a part of the venom." Sakura set the takeout box aside and thumbed through the manual.

"It shouldn't be," she murmured contemplatively, "At least, it wasn't part of what I treated. Doesn't look like anything would react or decay into this compound, either. I've only ever seen it in medical wards. It really doesn't have any practical combat application." The blond ran both hands through his hair, looking frustrated.

"That's what I was thinking, too," he said, letting his bangs fall free over his eyes before shaking them away, "We have an anesthetic identical to that in our storage, but I haven't touched it in a long time, and no one else is authorized to treat the Raikage."

"Could someone have gotten past the guards?"

"Maybe," the blond blew air out the side of his mouth, "I don't know. I've been in and out, I guess, maybe someone got pas–ow!" The bandage on his cheek tore loose as his hand brushed past it, and the cut underneath began to ooze blood. Sakura frowned.

"You really didn't do a very good job with that."

"I was rushed," C mumbled, looking haggard, "It's the most superficial of them, anyway. Didn't have a whole lot left by the time I finished. Plowing through a window isn't the most enjoyable thing I've ever done." The medic shrugged, examining the wound more closely, and sighed.

"Do you have any supplies here?" she asked, "I'll take care of it for you." He blinked and tentatively pointed toward the hallway, tipping his head to avoid bleeding on his couch.

"Over down that way, first door on your left, in the cabinet over the sink." Sakura nodded and stood, silently recalling the information on the report as she navigated. There was something that she was missing. There had to be.

Feedback is appreciated.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Neji tapped the sleeping redhead lightly on the shoulder. She stirred, and her amber eyes suddenly went wide at the sight of him as she swiped hastily at the corner of her mouth.

"N-Neji!" she stammered, trying to straighten out her clothes as surreptitiously as possible.

"I thought it best to not surprise you with my appearance," he said, quietly setting another chair next to hers and taking a seat. The Raikage remained unmoving, save for the rhythmic rise and fall of his broad chest. Neji exhaled slowly through his nose. He was relieved to hear that the prognosis was hopeful, but the circumstances had him ill at ease. A was one of the few people he fully trusted. With him currently incapacitated, and the Hyuuga's own combat abilities stunted, he felt half blind, and uncomfortably exposed.

"It'd be the least surprising thing today," Karui said, her nose twitching slightly with irritation._ Is she still angry?_ It hadn't escaped his notice that the redhead didn't have her sword with her. What were his options, should they come under attack? Or, was Karui the informant? His sudden impotence confounded him.

"Would you like me to apologize?" he asked quietly, his gaze fixed on the heart rate monitor. The regular fluctuations of the green line were soothing, though the constant beeping was not the most pleasant sound in the world.

"No," Karui sighed, "I don't know. I just don't understand you. Guess I never really did. You know, I used to th–"

There was a gentle knock on the door before Mabui slipped into the room.

"Glad to see you back on your feet, Neji," she smiled. He kept his expression neutral; though he hadn't ascertained the reason for her closeness while he was unconscious, he also had not forgotten the occurrence._ Allowing paranoia free reign is unhelpful,_ he reminded himself. It was not the most opportune time to inquire about the event, regardless.

"What is the status of our infrastructure?" he asked.

"Hectic. It's kept me busy," Mabui answered lightly, "But no more so than usual." She paused, and glanced at Karui. "I hope I didn't interrupt," she said, looking chagrined, "I can leave, if you two were in the middle of something."

"We weren't," Karui supplied, a bit too quickly, "We were just... nothing." Neji sighed internally. The redhead's affections for him were an issue that he had put off for far too long, but this was hardly the ideal setting for addressing them. He needed time to sort out the tangled clutter that had built up while he had been occupied elsewhere. The Hyuuga was acutely aware of the assistant's scrutiny on him as he watched the steady drip of the Raikage's fluid bag, but he weathered it in silence.

A stray image of Sakura brought an imperceptible frown to his brow. She had been the linchpin that had turned such aspects in his life from manageable to something less than that; the confused turbulence in the depth of his mind and pit of his stomach. Even without her near, he could feel her lingering influence, like a warm ray of sunlight. Yet, when she was close..._ No. Remember why she is here._ Of course. He had brought her to Kumogakure for a reason, and the sooner that business was concluded, the sooner he could move on, back to the existence he understood. Time was a precious commodity, and the attack had shown that he had even less of it than he had previously estimated.

Neji's concentration was broken by the faint sound of hurried footsteps. There was a rattling, as well, one the Hyuuga recognized as metal clattering against metal._ The guards are moving._

"Something's wrong," he said softly, rising to his feet. A split second later, the lights went out. Mabui turned as the door opened.

"We're going into lockdown," the guard said, "They found the body of one of ours outs–" The shadow of a hand passed over his mask and wrenched. There was the sick snap of his neck, and he fell forward soundlessly to reveal a thin figure behind him.

"Found you," it said with a smile.

o

Sakura flipped the tube over to scan the ingredients. She'd gotten used to Konohagakure's packaging, but it was an inconvenience at worst. C was surprisingly well-prepared; there were at least four kinds of antiseptic cream alone. She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear and reached for the third tube, stopping halfway as she took it out._ Odd._ Tucked away in the back of the shelf was the corner of a square of glossy paper. The medic set the antiseptic down and lifted the item clear.

It was a photo. Though worn, she could still make out the four people in it: A, with his massive hand nearly engulfing the head of a cross-armed, teenage Neji, who stood beside an equally young but much more delighted Karui, and a winking C. It brought a smile to her face.

"That's embarrassing," C said. She turned to see him standing in the doorway, a faint pink line where the cut on his cheek used to be. "I forgot that I had that there. Sorry for sneaking up on you. I figured you needed helping sorting through all of it." He gestured vaguely at the brimming cabinet.

"He's always been like that, huh?" Sakura said, her smile slow to fade as she studied the photographic Hyuuga's stolid expression.

"Yeah," the blond replied in clipped tones. C took the picture from her hand. "Sees everything, and yet nothing at all." When Sakura tilted her head quizzically, he shrugged. "She's loved him for years, and got nothing but heartache for it." The corner of his mouth twitched. "He'll break your heart, too, given half the chance." Sakura blinked.

"I think you've misinterpreted our relationship," she said, but C was already shaking his head.

"You're not the first, and you won't be the last," he pressed on, reaching past the medic to put the picture back where she had found it. The blond stopped, his face inches away from hers. "Someone like you deserves better than someone like him." Sakura met his gaze equally.

"I thought you weren't going to try anything stupid," she said quietly.

"There's nothing stupid about falling for you," he answered, his cheeks coloring faintly from his impromptu admission, but held eye contact nonetheless.

"I'm flattered," she said, unsure of what else to say._ How do I feel about this? Is he right about Neji?_ It was hard to think through the sudden jumble.

"Just flattered?"_ Am I?_ By any measure, C was an attractive man, and clearly interested in her._ His mannerisms, his words, his eyes._ He was open where Neji was closed; passionate where Neji was cold. But then, there were those moments..._ Am I taking a chance by waiting?_ Was she waiting for the Hyuuga? Certainly, she enjoyed his company, but she had never thought – or perhaps never allowed herself to think – that there might be something more between them.

"I don't know," she said carefully, "But I think this isn't the best time to make that kind of decision. So it's probably best if we leave it that way, for now."

"Oh," C said, looking disappointed, "I... see." She ducked under his arm and stood in the threshold for a moment._ What a familiar feeling._ She'd been there before, with someone else at her back, and the same roiling doubts in her heart.

"I should go," she said, glancing back at the blond.

"You don't have to," he offered. She hesitated. It would be so easy to stay. To forget about the world outside, and to be content with the little piece of comfort within arm's reach. She thought of the Hyuuga, though, his silver eyes, measured tone, and rare smiles.

"I know," she said with a regretful shake of her head, "But I should." After a long several heartbeats, C nodded his understanding, and she was gone.

o

_Almost there._

Yugito heaved Killer B's limp form over the saddle bodily. He would survive; his burns and abrasions had already healed, albeit crudely. The kunoichi's concern now was a second attack, one that would inevitably come._ How the hell did they known our position when it's top secret, and constantly changing, to boot?_ Moreover, how had they set up such a large-scale explosion without either of them catching even a glimpse of the operation? Killer B groaned as she tied him in.

"Shut up," she grumbled, resisting the urge to punch her unconscious charge in the head. The horse wouldn't be strong enough to carry both of them up the mountain; she had learned over the endless miles she'd trekked just how heavy he was. She would have to lead the way up the trail on foot. Though the moon provided scant light to navigate by, the feline side of her could see as though it were midday. From here, it was just tedium._ Assuming no more attacks until Kumo,_ she growled.

Giving the reins a sharp jerk, she started the long climb.

Feedback is appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Neji vaulted over the corner of the Raikage's bed as Karui slid underfoot, diving for the dead guard's sword. He collared Mabui, yanking her back as the intruder's blade screamed through the air in front of her. She shrieked in pain._ Was she hit?_ The intruder snapped a low kick at Karui's ribs and she grunted, tumbling away with weapon clasped against her bosom. Before Neji could attack the opening, the intruder was jackknifing back around, blade hand leading. With the bed rail blocking off a retreat, Neji had no choice but to fling Mabui aside as he jerked the other way. The impaling stab slammed against his outstretched wrist, spinning him onto the floor.

_A!_ But the next attack came at him; a guillotining downward slash. Neji crossed his arms overhead and the edge screeched across the metal of his bracers, showering him in sparks, and smashed down into the tile between his legs. For an instant, he was face-to-face with the intruder's pale visage and perpetual smile. He grabbed at the lodged blade, but was sent skidding back by a crushing mule kick. As he slid, the Hyuuga seized the leg of a chair and rose swinging, opening enough breathing room to heave his makeshift weapon at the window behind him.

_Come, then!_ Neji hurled himself after the chair, amidst a cascade of broken glass. The hospital floor vanished abruptly, and there was a minute of horrifying vertigo as the street spun dizzily below. His body cleared the gap and crashed to a rolling stop on the next rooftop._ On your feet!_ The Hyuuga righted himself, though not without difficulty. He estimated that he was operating at less than ten percent his normal capacity, if his ungainly flight was any indication. It didn't feel like coincidence, this sudden attack._ Survival now, thoughts later._

"All alone now," the intruder beamed, rushing forward. Neji met him with the twisted remnants of the chair, wrenching to the side as the intruder's blade bit deep into the metal frame. It clattered away, temporarily out of the picture, but the Hyuuga had no time to breathe as he was forced to defend against a sharp knee to his ribs. The next attack – a reversing kick at his temple – sent him reeling back, though he maintained his balance well enough to hop over the follow-up sweep at his ankles.

The intruder was fast, but Neji had fought faster, and without the benefit of his bloodline, as well. He sped in and ducked under the intercepting roundhouse, swiveling as he did so to drive the point of his shoulder into the intruder's stomach. The Hyuuga's legs fired from their crouch in an explosive upward movement as he brought his left elbow up and across that smiling face, pistoning his right palm forward to impact bodily against the intruder's ribs.

"Not bad," the intruder cajoled, wiping black blood from the corner of his lips. His hand snapped out, and the droplets deformed and sharpened in midair into whirling shuriken, hissing past Neji's ear as he jerked out of their trajectory.

More droplets splattered against the ground, bubbling white and expanding into the form of a fanged lion. Neji braced against the charge, his feet finding enough purchase on the rough rooftop to throw the beast aside, though it was on him again just as quickly. He threw himself back, flattening his body under the pass as he stabbed up with stiffened fingers into its exposed underbelly as it sailed over him. There was an instant of resistance before it burst open, showering him in inky blood.

He bucked up onto his feet, swiping the obscuring liquid away from his eyes with one hand with the other thrust out defensively, but the intruder had made no attempt to capitalize on his temporary blindness. Instead, he had opted to retrieve his weapon, and had his open hand in a mirror of the Hyuuga's, extended out with fingers spread. His smile widened at Neji's uncertainty.

"Have a seat," the intruder invited cordially as he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist. The tendrils of blood Neji was drenched in wormed into loops, clinking into iron links. He struggled, but to no avail as the chains anchored themselves into the ground and dragged him down to his knees, binding his arms behind his back. The intruder wasted no time on further words, lifting his weapon in both hands like an executioner._ Efficient,_ Neji thought grimly as the blade came down.

Steel smashed against steel overhead.

"You're not yourself today," Karui grunted, her sword quivering in its deadlock against the intruder's. She barged against the intruder, fending him off with a backhand swipe as he leaped away lightly.

"Be careful," Neji warned, straining against his bonds. The redhead smirked.

"You just stay put," she grinned savagely, "I'll take care of this."

o

Sakura knocked again, her frown deepening._ Where could he have gone?_ The only place she could think of would be the hospital. That left her stranded outside, and it was getting late. The medic circled around the house. Would it be better to go back to C's apartment? No, it was better to leave him alone for a while. She needed time to think, anyway.

The thick tangle of bamboo was easy enough to move through. She wondered how many people knew of Neji's preternatural eyesight, or maybe it was reputation alone that kept the curious away. The medic paused. There was movement; flickering shadows cast from the low light of Neji's bedroom. Had he not heard her knocking?

Her steps softened as she crept through the brush, careful to keep her approach quiet. It was a person she didn't recognize, hunched over something._ A body,_ she realized. For a moment, she feared the worst. But no, it seemed too large to be Neji's.

"Who's there?" The shout shattered the silence. It was a female, and an angry one, from the sounds of it._ How had she detected me?_ In the low lighting, Sakura could see that the woman's eyes gleamed an uncanny red. "Show yourself," the woman hissed.

Sakura slipped on her gloves as she stepped clear of the verdant fence._ This is about to get messy._ Was she the other intruder? C had made no mention of the outcome of his skirmish, and Sakura hadn't had time to get a good look in the confusion of the engagement. The woman's eyes widened as the medic came into full sight.

"It was you, then," she snarled, her voice distorting inhumanly as blue flames began to roll off her form, "Madara's little medic turned infiltrator."

"I'm not a spy," Sakura said, her fists clenching, "Neji brought me here."

"You want me to believe that the Hyuuga invited you over for tea?" The woman's body shimmered like a mirage, growing and warping. "You're a shittier liar than you are an assassin. Stay very still, little mouse, and I might even take you in alive." With an unearthly roar, the ghost cat lunged.

o

Karui struck, and struck, and struck again. This was where she thrived: on the brink of life and death with a sword in her hand and an enemy in front of her. The tip of her sword scraped against the ground as she flew into a vertical spin, raining down blows from above. Bit by bit, the intruder was giving up ground, forced back by her reach advantage.

He darted in, but she was ready, locking hilts with him and throwing his jab out wide. The intruder's shin collided against her shoulder as she unleashed a body blow into his side._ I can trade with you all day, motherfucker,_ she exulted. The pommel of his weapon crashed into her cheek, and she responded by planting a boot into his gut, toppling him backward. As he fell, he threw out another salvo of shuriken, but she plucked each out of the air with the tip of her sword.

The intruder grabbed a handful of broken glass, sweeping his bloody palm to paint a broad stroke in the air. It took shape as a white serpent, coiling and launching itself at the redhead. She met it head-on, bisecting it from mouth to tail in one clean stroke. Blood washed over her skin, twining into solid cables._ Seen that trick,_ she sneered, stabbing the tip of her sword into the rooftop. Electricity exploded from her weapon, liquidizing the wires and blowing the intruder back.

He was up again in the blink of an eye, but so was she. She lashed out, and he parried, weaving his blade in an intricate spiral to rip her sword out of her hands.

"Knew you'd do that," she crowed, letting go entirely. The redhead grabbed a hold of the intruder's lapels and headbutted him in the face. His legs buckled, but he remained standing, so she did it again, for good measure. This time, he sagged against her, collapsing face-down as she let go. She turned to see Neji extricating himself from the last of his fetters, an exuberant smile on her face.

"You can tie him up," she grinned.

Feedback is appreciated.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The earth shook as the ghost cat landed, its maw tracking Sakura's retreat. She hit the ground and went immediately into a backflip to avoid the heavy paws that splintered sturdy bamboo stalks like toothpicks._ Need to get into the open._ The medic wove through the falling debris and the vegetation beyond with the transformed kunoichi hot on her heels, her monstrous bulk plowing easily through the foliage._ Can't fight with all this around._

_A clearing!_ Sakura ground to a sudden stop as her escape options fell away in sheer mountain cliffs._ Shit._ She turned to see the ghost cat's stalking form, canines bared with predatory anticipation. The medic hadn't seen her fight before, but she had seen the sort of damage her overwhelming strength could inflict on ordinary shinobi. But she, Sakura Haruno, was no ordinary shinobi.

The attack came in singular explosion of movement.

Sakura locked her hands against the gnashing rows of slavering incisors. The initial impact was enough to drive her back several feet, her boots cutting deep trenches into the earth. She dug her heels in and steeled herself, pitting her strength against the kunoichi's bestial power. Inch by inch, with the howling chasm wailing at her back, she fought her way back from the brink.

The kunoichi roared in fury, and the heat of her breath dried and intensified._ Fire!_ Sakura tucked and dove forward under the ghost cat's belly, narrowly avoiding the gout of orange flame that scorched the ground she had stood on moments before. She kept rolling, with raking claws and snapping jaws harassing her at every turn.

Her evasion came to an abrupt halt as the twin pillars of the ghost cat's forelegs crashed down around her, pinning her in place. Again, the gleaming canines dove at her, and again, she caught them in gloved fists, but, caught flat on her back, she had no more ways out. Her arms began to buckle under the inexorable weight as the deadly orange glow began to build in the ghost cat's throat again.

o

"I'm sorry, Karui."

"About what?" the redhead asked. Neji exhaled. Of course it couldn't be as simple as that.

"For..." he hesitated, "For not being able to return your feelings." Karui's amber eyes narrowed at him suspiciously as she crossed her arms.

"What's with you all of a sudden?" she demanded, "First you get your ass kicked by that guy–" she jerked her head toward the interrogation room "–and now this?"

"Madara's advances mean that time is running short," Neji said softly, "And the tensions between us are long overdue for discussion." Her scowl deepened.

"What makes you want to discuss any–" Sudden comprehension dawned on her features. "Oh. Fucking hell, Neji." Her hand flew up to cover her mouth in disbelief. "You're going soon, aren't you? On your suicide mission."

"It needs to be done." He didn't bother to contest her choice of words. The Hyuuga knew better than anyone else how slim his odds of survival were. "Thank you, Karui, for being here all these years. I am irredeemably indebted to you."

"That means you're not going to let me come with you, right?" Neji closed his eyes, dipping his head slightly in affirmation. "Fuck._ Fuck!_" A helpless little laugh filtered out through her fingers. "That's it, then? You're just up and going to throw your life away? Going to leave everyone else behind? What am I supposed to tell the Raikage, when he wakes up? 'Welcome back, A. Oh, by the way, Neji fucked off and got himself killed'?" He had expected the anger. It was hardly unmerited.

"I've already made the appropriate arrangements to inform A, should I fail to return." That wouldn't help, but she deserved the truth.

"That's it, then," she repeated quietly, the bitterness and venom still abundantly present. Her hands balled into fists. "That's it, then." Would another apology defuse her ire? It seemed unlikely. The only thing that would help now was time.

The door opened, and Mabui stepped out, looking apologetic with her silver hair draped over her bandaged eye. She shook her head. No, they hadn't managed to get any information from the intruder.

"Fucking hell," Karui snarled, bulling past the assistant as she bared the knife from the back of her belt, "I'll take care of this shit."

"Karui," Neji called out, starting after her, "He's of no use to us dead."

"He's no fucking use to us alive," the redhead snapped, kicking the inner door open. The guard in the observation room looked to Mabui for the signal to stop her, but she shook her head. He shifted uneasily, but moved out into the hallway. Neji followed Karui into the holding room, with the assistant close behind him.

"All right, you piece of shit." She crossed the room, slamming her knife into the metal tabletop. "Talk. How the fuck did you know where we were?" When the intruder only smiled at her, she rammed her fist into his stomach. He convulsed, bending over double, though the ropes binding his hands to the chair jerked him up short. "_I said talk!_"

"My name is Sai," the intruder choked out, "ANBU rank. Serial numb–" Karui slugged him across the face.

"_Don't give me that bullshit!_" she screamed, kicking him in the chest. His chair tipped back, and he hit the floor hard. "I don't give a rat's ass about who you are, if you don't start talking, I will _slit your fucking throat!_" She grabbed for the knife.

"Karui." Neji got there first, catching her by the wrist. "Enough."

"Don't fucking touch me!" She lashed out at him with a fist, but he was quick enough to snatch it out of the air. "_Let me go, you asshole!_" She barged into him, and they both went down. Neji held on. Sai was a resource they couldn't afford to give up, and he had no doubt that she was capable of carrying out her threats. She flailed wildly at him, and it was all he could do to maintain his grip.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. The intruder was standing, knife in hand. How had he gotten it? Had they knocked it loose in their struggle? Neji tried to move Karui clear, but she was too strong to simply overpower, and rage deafened her to his words. The knife lifted. He was not going to make it in time.

Mabui was there, her palm pressed against Sai's chest. Blue light radiated from her hand, enveloping him. The smile evaporated from his lips, replaced by a look of agony as his body twisted, deforming and contorting in impossible angles before pulling taut in a beam of lightning and vanishing into the ceiling.

He came down a second later. Under the ruinous force of the impact, his body simply gave out, splattering the walls with blood and macerated lumps of tissue. He twitched once, and was still.

"Mabui..." The assistant looked ill, and at the mention of her name, she bolted outside, her eyes already tearing. "Shit," Karui swore, rolling off Neji and running after her.

o

Power. She needed more power.

"_Your friend is too weak to be useful," Madara said, as casually as if he'd simply mentioned the weather, "You represent a more substantial investment, but do not think your good fortune exempts you from her duties. If you cannot serve me with your strength, then you will serve me with your body. Do you understand?" Sakura nodded, her hands tightening around the man's skull. He whimpered, but she didn't look at his face. She couldn't afford to lose her nerve now. "Do it." She began to squeeze, reaching deep for what she needed._

_It wasn't there._

_Sweat broke out on her brow._ Not now. Not now!_ Was it nerves? She'd done it time and time before, though never on live subjects. She inhaled deep, acutely aware of his eyes on her. If she failed now..._

_Before she could protest, he jabbed two fingers into the center of her chest._

_Pins and needles swept over every inch of her skin as her body jolted back to life. She didn't know whether to giggle or scream at the pervasive, tingling sensation that left her no refuge from her own senses. Biting down hard on her lip, she felt around for anything to cling to..._

But he wasn't there. He was only a memory.

She felt it, though, the surge of energy she had felt before._ Focus._ It wasn't stillness that she needed._ Focus._ The heat above her was suffocating, but she burned hotter within._ Focus!_ It receded for a heartbeat, then exploded. Energy, wild and pure, coursed through her veins. Suddenly, the ghost cat's strength seemed laughable as the medic clamped her muzzle shut with the most minute flexion of her arms. Flames spilled out from between her fangs, but the medic was healed before the pain could even set in. It was easy. So easy.

With barely more than a thought, she tossed the hulking ghost cat aside. The ground trembled when she landed, then shuddered as the medic came down on her head with both fists clenched. A yowl of pain split the night air, but the medic was far from finished. She hammered blow after blow into the ghost cat, fracturing the earth with spiderweb fissures. The ghost cat's form wavered and began to dissipate as the rapture continued to bubble in the medic's veins. Easy. So easy.

In a puff of blue smoke, the ghost cat vanished, leaving only the kunoichi's body behind._ Just one more!_ She felt like laughing. How delightful it would be to squash her! She took the kunoichi's head in her hands and began to squeeze.

"Stop! You'll kill her!" What? Who was that? "Stop!" The kunoichi slid with a moan out of her grasp as the power began to fade._ No. Nonononono!_ She needed it._ Not now. Not now!_ The world careened out of control as she clutched at her head, falling into C's arms.

Feedback is appreciated.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Yugito complains of a headache, but she'll survive."_ Survive?_ Was that good? A pause. Was he expecting her to say something? The medic could still feel it. It thrummed with her heartbeat, rising when she breathed in and ebbing when she breathed out. It spiked in irritation. Did he expect her to say something? None of this would have happened if he'd been there. Was that unreasonable? She dug her nails into her palms, focusing on the sensation, hoping that it would stabilize her. "Sakura. We need to talk."

She forced herself to look at him, and the silver of his eyes called to her. Why was he standing? There was room for both of them on his armchair. Her hand moved, almost reaching for him._ Stop. What are you doing?_ She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, watching his eyes narrow._ What?_ Did he want her? Or was he disgusted?_ Who does he think he is?_

"What is Madara planning to do with the tailed beasts?" A buzz of memories. There was a statue. Yes, a statue. He would put them in a statue, and then put the world to sleep._ What does that mean?_ The moon. Something about the moon.

"He's going to reflect his eyes off of the moon." Was that her voice? Strange. She couldn't concentrate with those eyes watching her. "Using the tailed beasts as power. He's going to cast a illusion over everything. Make it his." There. That was right. Sakura put her head between her hands, feeling the world spin. She'd killed someone that way. Was it Yugito?_ No. Someone else._ She couldn't remember the face.

"Sakura, are you..." Neji frowned, uncertain of how to finish._ What had happened?_ He'd heard the bestial screams – most of Kumogakure had – and had arrived to find C tending to Yugito in a crater, with the medic slumped over nearby. The blond had arrived as the fight concluded, in time to stop her from killing the kunoichi. He'd hadn't seen anything else, just as he hadn't seen it necessary to inform Neji that the intruder had escaped._ "I already reported it to Mabui,"_ C had snapped, _"I don't answer to you, Hyuuga."_

A was in a coma. Killer B was hospitalized, alongside Yugito. Neji himself was out of commission, and Sakura was somehow compromised. He had his information, now, but scarcely possessed the means to execute any level of counterattack.

How had she outfought the kunoichi? Neji had watched A spar with Yugito before. It had been close, with the Raikage coming out on top only after tapping into his highest level of lightning armor. Could he have underestimated her?_ Impossible_. The Byakugan was never wrong. He knew what she was capable of._ Was,_ he reminded himself. Perhaps she had completed the technique from that evening._ A new technique in the span of hours?_ It would explain the symptoms she was currently exhibiting. He knelt.

"Sakura," he started again, touching her lightly on the knee. The medic gasped at the contact, and he hastily let his hand drop. "Is everything all right?" She looked at him, her pupils contracting sharply before dilating again.

"No. Yes. I'm just... tired." Her fingertips brushed over his shoulder and she slid out of her seat suddenly. He caught her, and she looked up at him, her fingers fisting into his shirt. "No..." she whimpered, her lips inching closer to his, "Oh..." He could smell her; almost taste her._ Almost._ His breath quickened, matching her heartbeat. She was so light in his arms. Vulnerable. He drew her in closer.

No. This was wrong. The Hyuuga wrenched himself out of his trance, pushing her to arm's length._ A illusion?_ Was this how she had bested the kunoichi?_ No._ Of course not. This was his own failure, his own inadequacy, his own inability to draw the line between mission and emotion. How could he have let it come this far without noticing? She looked pale, then angry.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped.

"I could ask you the same," he answered levelly. With this distance between them, he could think clearly. It had been a mistake to let her that close.

"What is wrong with me?" she marveled, her brow briefly spasming in pain, "I'll tell you what's wrong with me. You. You and your plans. You and your words. You and your promises. You, you,_ you!_" She stumbled to her feet, throwing his hands off. "Get away. Just... get away..." She threw the door open and ran out. It bounced off the doorstop and slammed shut again.

Neji rose, but hesitated to follow her. The medic had served her purpose. He didn't need her anymore; he couldn't need her anymore. Yet, he found himself with one hand on the doorknob._ An unknown quantity running loose in Kumogakure must be stopped,_ he told himself, recognizing the lie instantly. What could he really do against her?

A knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts._ Already?_ He opened it, half-hoping and half-dreading.

"I seem to only catch you at bad times," Mabui said with an apologetic smile. He blinked. The last time he had seen the assistant was when she had stopped the intruder from killing Karui. "I know you don't entertain much," she continued, "But Karui's worried about you." Sheepishly, she added, "I am, too." Then, even more timidly, "Can I come in?"

Neji moved aside, and the assistant gratefully took the invitation to step inside. She'd taken off the bandages, but her hair still hung over her injured eye. He closed the door behind her.

"Would you like to sit?" he suggested, indicating the living room, "I'll pour you some tea." Mabui eased herself onto the two-person sofa carefully as he crossed into the kitchen. The kettle had already come to a boil, and he filled the two cups beside it with hot tea. Mabui looked up as he approached and took the cup he offered with a murmur of gratitude.

"Sit with me?" she requested hopefully. He did, letting the heat of his drink warm his fingers. "I'm sorry for the way I acted," she said softly. She took a sip of the beverage, closing her eyes in appreciation of its flavor. "I've never... I mean... I just needed to talk to someone." She quieted, studying the wavering surface of the steaming water glumly. "I don't really know what I'm doing here," she admitted, "I just thought talking to you might help."

"You needn't apologize for your actions," he said gently, "You saved Karui's life with one, and demonstrated your humanity with the other."

"She worries about you." Mabui hesitated. "I already said that. You..." Another pause. "You don't have to go."

"When the alternative is to allow Madara free rein," Neji said slowly, "Then I must."

"How can you be so sure that he'll do something bad?" the assistant asked, "Maybe it would be an end to all the warring, all the deaths."

"An end precipitated by our eradication."

"We could bargain with him," she insisted, "There doesn't have to be any more killing."

"He would take Yugito and Killer B," he replied calmly, "You know what would happen to them. It is most unlikely that he would be willing to accept a compromise, regardless. Madara is not the sort of man to be satisfied with surrender." Mabui worried at her lip, then sighed at length.

"You don't have to go," she said again, though without the same conviction as before. She leaned her head against his shoulder, unexpectedly. It was a comforting feeling. He turned to look at her, his eyes meeting hers. "You could stay here, with me. Things will work out. You'll see."

"If only I had your kind of faith," Neji said, his regret not at all feigned. It would be so much simpler to let events play out. No more struggling. No more fighting. He was worn out from it all. The events of the past three days had worn down on him, both physically and emotionally. Yet, the Hyuuga shouldered a burden of responsibility he could not merely set down. He was responsible for this. Responsible for correcting his mistakes, and responsible to those around him. It was almost done. Just a little more. "This is something I must do."

"I know," the assistant sighed, "I just thought I should try." She pulled away, reluctantly. Mabui faltered for an instant, then drew her hair back behind her ear. The intruder's blade had not cut deep, but it had left a long scar from forehead to cheekbone across her eye. "Do I look ugly, Neji?" she asked, her level regard challenging him to look away. He didn't, studying the mocha brown of her features, the silver of her hair, and the cerulean of her gaze. She had been shaken, worn down and crying, but she could never be ugly.

"No," Neji said softly, "You don't." Mabui smiled, a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"Thank you, Neji," she whispered, standing and smoothing out her skirt, "For the tea, and everything else. I... I'll see you around." With that, she set down her cup and left.

o

C breathed out slowly as he collapsed on the couch._ Long day,_ he sighed to himself,_ With longer ones to come._ What he needed was a good night's rest, but he didn't have the motivation to drag himself to the bedroom._ Maybe I'll just sleep on the couch tonight._ It would be a fitting end to his day.

There was a knock on his door, and he groaned._ Who could that possibly be?_ he lamented as he rolled off the couch and braced against the coffee table to lever himself into a standing position. His feet dragged as he walked, but he tried to muster up a presentable look anyway, for whoever was waiting for him. He took a quick breath to refresh himself before opening the door.

"Hi," Sakura said quietly, eyes downcast, "I need a place for the night." She swallowed nervously. "Is it all right if I stay here?" The blond stared for a moment longer, then motioned her in.

Feedback is appreciated.


End file.
